


Absolutely Fucked

by Kalloway



Series: Absolutely Fucked [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, KH2-Era, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21996580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: When Riku comes back to Radiant Garden, Leon is wary of Malificent's involvement in the event. But the truth might just shatter them both.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Riku/Leon (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Absolutely Fucked [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584529
Kudos: 1
Collections: The Lemonade Cafe





	1. Master

**Author's Note:**

> 2006\. Not abandoned, just snoozing.
> 
> "Many thanks to those on AIM who tolerated me while I wrote this. For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Master."

Leon only looked up because of the way that the weight fell onto the chair beside him at the little café in a newly restored section of Radiant Garden. Company was something he rarely lacked for, since apparently someone had affixed a metaphorical (he hoped) neon arrow to his head, announcing his location.

Working with Cid as part of the Restoration Committee for the last five years had made him a public figure, whether he wanted to be one or not. And it was nothing for Yuffie or Aerith or Cloud or even one of the faeries to come calling at odd times of the day, preferably lunch.

But Leon knew the way each of their weight fell, just like he knew their footsteps and the way the air moved around them. They were his friends - he shared an unbreakable bond with them.

He looked up, because the body beside his was foreign.

For a split second, before some form of logic finally took over his brain, Leon thought it was Cloud's arch-nemesis/bedmate Sephiroth. Logic did intervene, however, fast enough to make his jaw drop ever so slightly.

"Riku?"

"I might need you to buy me lunch," Riku replied as he pointed at Leon's plate of noodles. "That looks good."

Because after four years of absolutely no communication from the Keyblade Master and his friends, it was perfectly normal for one of them to appear in Radiant Garden. Asking for lunch.

Years ago, Leon might have rolled his eyes and made some sort of comment. Time had mellowed him. He signaled for the waitress.

Before he could open his mouth, the perky little black-haired waitress who waited on him every single day bounced over, looking as equally confused about the new visitor.

"That?" Riku said, pointing at Leon's plate. "And, um, something to drink."

"I'll take care of ya," the waitress replied, giggling before bouncing off to the kitchen.

And finally, Leon got to speak.

"Should I ask?"

"No," Riku replied. "Yes. I don't know. I'll pay you back for lunch. Somehow."

"I won't ask, then," Leon decided. He went back to his noodles, trying not to give Riku more than the casual once-over he'd managed while Riku was distracted by the waitress.

While the years had brought him to the line between pushing-thirty and dragging-thirty, Riku at twenty was certainly worthy of more than a second glance and in-between trying not to slurp (for only Yuffie thought it was at all cute) noodles, Leon tried not to feel guilty for that tiny little thought.

Riku was Sora's best friend after all. Young best friend. Of questionable...

"You're staring at me."

That, too.

Searching for a quick solution, Leon went for the first question he could think of that wasn't 'why?’

"How?"

The waitress dumped a heaping plate of noodles in front of Riku, almost startling them both.

"Enjoy, hon. Call me if ya need me."

Riku nodded, smiling before grabbing his fork. About five messy mouthfuls later, he raised his gaze to meet Leon's. And Leon couldn't help but laugh. If he'd expected anything but a young man with noodles hanging from his mouth, he was utterly wrong.

"It's a long story."

"I think you have time," Leon commented, glancing around. "Unless you have a ride waiting somewhere."

"I'm not sure there's a beginning," Riku began, pausing and eating. "No matter where I start, I think it all just wraps around into itself."

Leon shrugged. He actually had no plans for the day, unless Cid called. But Cid normally came for him in the morning, and morning it was not.

"Four years ago... When Sora and I finally made it home, I mean - going home was the hardest part. Physically walking there, not knowing if I should knock or just open the door..." Riku trailed off, as though he still wasn't sure that he was starting in the right place.

Leon had no clue - he listened better than he spoke when it came to things like this. And he had no idea just what questions to ask to guide Riku along.

"These are as good as they look," Riku commented, pointing at his noodles. "Different seasoning than at home, I guess.

"Aunt Freya has been trying to teach me to cook. But that's... Okay, I decided to just walk in as if nothing had happened - as if almost two years hadn't passed. Aunt Freya was sitting in the kitchen, mending a pillowcase..."

Riku paused, shaking his head and wolfing down a few more mouthfuls of noodles.

"I just... like I took a picture in my mind. She looked at me and shook her head. And said 'Next time, I'll take the trash out.' - just like you, she didn't ask. She let me tell her."

"The trash?" Leon finally asked.

Laughing, Riku nodded. "I had completely forgotten that. The night the Islands were lost... Well, Aunt Freya had asked me to take out the garbage. And I noticed that there was a storm brewing..."

Leon hadn't noticed that his plate was empty. Or that he'd been eating. Riku was easy to listen to.

"But, you know that part. Sora probably told you all of that," Riku commented, his smile looking a little forced.

Still, Leon couldn't help but noting that Riku had finally mentioned Sora. Sora had always said Riku's name as every other word. Riku. Kairi. Riku. Riku. But was the fake smile in reference to Sora or the nearly-two-years between?

Riku seemed willing to talk.

Leon sat back to keep listening.

"Everything was... normal. Aunt Freya kept an open mind and - well, she was -- is -- she'd hit me with a spear for saying 'was', a powerful fighter, so I think she was secretly happy that I'd learned so much," Riku explained. "She even made me finish school, since she hadn't."

Somehow, Riku had already plowed through his plate of noodles. Leon wanted to remember being that age, but he'd been forced straight from sixteen to adulthood, lacking the bumper in-between when he'd been forced to take up residence in Traverse Town.

Gesturing at the door, Leon stood and pulled a few heavy coins from his pocket. They were more than enough to cover his bill, but he'd taken to spoiling his daily waitress just because he could.

"No dessert?" Riku asked, smirking.

"Aerith has a habit of leaving chocolate cakes in my house," Leon admitted. She liked to leave him more food than he needed, knowing that his cooking skills were substandard and that he ate at the café more often than not. "But she's finally learned to follow a recipe, thankfully."

"Girlfriend?" Riku questioned as he followed Leon out of the café. Leon caught the waitress out of the corner of his eye, scooping up the coins with a smile on her face. Not everyone in Radiant Garden could tip so well. Not everyone had been so extraordinarily lucky and unlucky at the same time.

The question caught Leon off guard.

"No," he said quickly. Aerith definitely was not his girlfriend. That had been an experiment that was not worth repeating. But they could laugh about it, finally.

"Sorry," Riku replied. Apparently he'd caught the meaning quickly. "Didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it," Leon replied, a little surprised to find that he was looking upward at Riku. Sora had always been small for his age and likely hadn't gotten any taller than Cloud. But Riku had filled out perfectly, complete with long, silver-grey hair that ended jaggedly mid-back.

"Where are we going?"

"Bailey," Leon replied. That, at least, he had managed to think about. A nice, neutral place to talk. Or whatever. He almost wished that he had his gunblade with him. Without a need to be armed, he'd stopped carrying a weapon at all times. The thought of a spar with Riku, however, excited him. If Riku was going to be staying... "Riku?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you staying tonight?"

Riku stopped short. Apparently he hadn't thought that far ahead. Or had, and just hadn't thought of how to put his plan into words.

"Somewhere," he muttered. "Maleficent would..."

One suspicion confirmed.

"You can stay in my spare room," Leon said quickly. "I live alone. No one will mind."

"I just had to get away," Riku admitted. "I brought nothing. Even though, really, I hadn't intended to leave exactly when I did... Aunt Freya will understand though. I kinda told her how I'd been feeling and..."

"This is the part where everything wraps around, isn't it," Leon surmised as they walked along the high wall towards the Bailey. He didn't bother looking over at Riku - he knew that whatever Riku was going to say had to be said at his own pace. For as many things as Riku had probably made amends with, other things were obviously still festering wounds.

"Yeah," Riku said. "Everything wraps around. I'm going to pretend that's the reason it's so difficult to explain."

Leon chuckled. "Then I'll pretend to believe that."

"Sora's getting married."

Thankful that he wasn't holding or drinking or speaking or doing anything other than holding up one of the stone walls of the Bailey because he would have fumbled spectacularly, Leon almost wished he'd been holding or drinking or speaking or doing something that he could have fumbled. Because actions spoke louder than words and he couldn't find the beginnings of any words to express the good thousand or so thoughts that came rushing at him. Dropping something would have been so much easier.

"See." Riku looked out at the horizon, kicking almost nervously at the stone beneath his feet.

Well, it did help clear up part of one misconception that Leon had always held. It didn't explain everything, but... No, Leon couldn't quite rationalize...

"To a girl?" He really hadn't intended to say that part out loud.

Apparently there was a bit of shared sentiment, as Riku turned so quick that even his hair whipped around. And as Riku's aqua eyes met his, Leon was happy to at least see Riku trying to hold back laughter.

"Yeah," Riku managed, finally letting a few chuckles escape. "That... Okay, he's marrying Kairi. And they both seem really happy with the idea of getting married - I couldn't bring myself to stop him and ask him why. That would just be me being selfish. But you... know..."

"Sora used to ask me questions," Leon admitted. A lot of questions. Unending questions. Really personal, embarrassing questions, asked with a curious, serious face. But at least he and Riku were indeed on the same page.

"Probably better than... Well, my education on... that. Let's just skip the details." Riku fell silent again, for an understandable reason.

"Fair enough."

"For years, we were always together - Riku, Sora and Kairi," Riku explained. "And then we all got out of school and started working and then Sora asked Kairi to marry him. After that, Sora, Kairi and the Wedding. And Riku, too busy working three jobs to pay for a new roof to even notice that he'd lost his spot in Sora's..."

Not thinking it terribly polite to say anything after an admission like that, Leon grasped for some sort of non-judgmental comment.

"A new roof?"

Riku sighed, seemingly thankful for a reason to divert. "We never did have the best roof, and Aunt Freya did give up everything to stop and raise me. But by the time I finished school, we had more pots on the floor when it rained than we did in the cupboard."

"So you were working three jobs."

"Yeah, about a hundred hours every week, plus the few chores that I could manage around the house. If Aunt Freya goes to get my last paychecks, it'll be just enough," Riku explained. "So I haven't had any free time. I even missed the party that Sora's mom threw."

Somehow, Leon knew that resting a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder was a bad idea.

"Last time it rained, after helping Aunt Freya with the leaks, I managed to have lunch with them. And I just felt like a giant, cosmic third wheel. Everything about their wedding. And a house. And their future..."

"Coming here was your solution?"

"Well, what comes with the happiness between a Keyblade Master and a Princess of Heart?" Riku asked, a twinkle in his eye that made Leon just a little nervous.

"Bad things," Leon replied flatly.

"Apparently Maleficent has a habit of crashing happy events. She showed up in time for Kairi's girly bride party shower thing with the intention of putting a curse on her... There was a fight - by the time I got there... Seeing Aunt Freya against Maleficent as a dragon, though..." Riku sighed. Leon wanted to move his hand - slide it down to rest at Riku's lower back. Comforting.

"She brought you here."

"I think Maleficent was a little disappointed that I didn't mind being dragged off, if it meant that she'd leave Kairi alone," Riku admitted. "Which means that she might try something again. With me."

"You struck a deal with her?"

"No. I know her. She doesn't do deals."

"Then..."

"I guess I find that part out later," Riku said, "But you see why I said that everything just wrapped around? Nothing strange has been going on in the castle, has it?"

"No resurgences of heartless, no," Leon replied. "Maleficent has been quiet, otherwise. I'm almost a little worried."

"I can still do this..." Riku grasped into thin air, pulling out his decorated, almost grotesque keyblade. He stepped away from Leon, swinging it once. "If I need to."

Without thinking, Leon reached out for the blade and Riku handed it to him without pause. The thing was heavy, but not too heavy. Certainly difficult to grasp properly - and warm? Even through his gloves, Leon could feel the warmth of the weapon, not the cool metal feel of Sora's keyblade.

But Riku was different, too. His was his heart divided. Leon smiled before handing the weapon back.

"We'll have to spar later, okay? When the sun starts to set."

"Yeah!" Riku exclaimed. "I haven't fought with anyone other than Aunt Freya in years."

"Wait, so all of that happened this morning?" Trying to make a coherent timeline from Riku's story, Leon couldn't help wondering why striking on the obvious had taken so long.

"Yesterday, actually," Riku corrected, dropping his keyblade back into the subspace it normally occupied. "I guess Maleficent brought the long way here. It's a little fuzzy."

"You're probably tired."

"A bit."

Leon nodded. "You should probably rest for the afternoon, then. We can get you settled in."

"You're being way too nice to someone who just admitted to having dealings with a witch."

Shrugging, Leon pointed down towards the borough. "Other than lingering angst, Cloud is still sleeping with her nephew and seems to be okay."

Riku missed a step.

"Nephew?"

"Three faerie sisters, Maleficent, Jenova, and Lucrecia... Lucrecia was the beautiful, even-tempered one of the three, but easily gave in to temptation and pressure. Her son Sephiroth was raised by Jenova, the middle sister," Leon explained. "And Cloud's mother tried to make a deal with her but... Well, ask Cloud some time. His version is much more brooding and suited to a rainy afternoon."

Riku laughed. "So Sephiroth is part-faerie?"

"Yeah. I thought the same thing. But Rikku, a girl faerie with your name, recounted the entire thing so honestly that I couldn't not believe her." Leon shook his head. He hadn't seen the trio in a few days - not since they'd finished the last job he'd given them. Probably off to spend the gold he'd managed to find for them. That was their nature. Treasure.

Yet they always came back, eager for some new challenge.

"I guess that explains the wings. Kinda."

Silence marked the rest of the walk to Leon's house, but Leon didn't really mind. He knew that Riku had to feel completely drained, both physically and emotionally. He didn't even want to imagine... But he knew.

"I know how you feel," Leon admitted. "I think. About being a third-wheel, I mean. But be happy for them."

"I am," Riku said. "I can be happy for them from here, right?"

"Yeah."

Leon wished that he had a slightly nicer house to show off to Riku. No yard. Drooping shutters. But his roof didn't leak.

"This is it," he said, opening the door. He hadn't bothered to lock it. There wasn't really anything worth stealing, anyway, and the faerie trio had no problems getting inside even when he did lock the doors. "Spare room is... probably dusty. I'll see if I can get the windows open."

"I can do it," Riku said quickly. "Maybe take a shower, too. Amongst those three jobs, one involved quite a bit of grease and I feel gross."

"Bathroom," Leon pointed. "Towels are above the toilet and I'll... Use my robe. You don't have clothes or anything, do you?"

"Just what I'm wearing."

"We'll figure something out."

With a nod, Riku headed towards the bathroom and Leon headed in the opposite direction, to do exactly what he'd intended - open the windows in the spare room. The first one was easy, opening wide to a soft breeze that left dust particles floating in the afternoon sun. The other wanted to stick, opening halfway before jamming completely. Still, it hadn't needed to be propped open, like the other window, so after another five minutes of fiddling with it between making sure that the woefully saggy spare bed had a pillowcase on the pillow and hoping that the rust stains in the shower weren't too pathetic, he gave up and turned towards the doorway. Just in time to nearly crash into Riku, who hadn't bothered with a robe and instead just had a towel wrapped around his waist.

"I feel better," Riku said. "And this... isn't so bad."

Leon knew he was staring. He couldn't help but stare. And he couldn't help but reach out to touch one of the many old scars that trailed down Riku's body.

"Sora, Sora, Roxas, Sora, Vexen, Sora..." Riku trailed off. "Sora would wince, just like you, and touch them, and apologize. But they were well deserved at the time."

"Riku..."

"You're the one who keeps touching me," Riku pointed out. "If you want to..."

"You aren't thinking clearly," Leon replied, pulling his hand away. "Neither am I. So just... rest. I'll see if I can borrow some clothes for you."

Before Riku could reply, he was out of the room, out of the house, and walking quickly towards where he thought he might be able to find Sephiroth.

Obviously, he decided as he tried to will away the tightness in his pants, he had a few things that he needed to face as well.

And Sephiroth was one of them.

He heard the swords before he saw either man, locked in yet another battle, yelling at one another, bodies so close that they may as well have been fucking save for the metal flashing in the light. So typical.

"Hey!" Leon yelled, jumping down to the part of the Ravine Trail that they were leaving deep, long gashes in.

Cloud paused first, barely ducking in time to keep his head.

"Leon?" Sephiroth asked as he turned, sending his sword back into its own subspace.

"I need a huge favor," Leon admitted, watching as Cloud slid his own sword onto his back. He liked the blush on Cloud's cheeks. He missed that. He'd been too busy himself, to even feel like a third-wheel.

"Courier," Cloud said. "Not errand boy."

"Errand boy," Sephiroth corrected. "But..."

In a flash, Sephiroth was behind Leon, leaning over his shoulder and breathing hot down his neck.

"I need your clothing," Leon managed, his voice cracking. Part of him reminded the rest of him that he could be quite politely fucking the brains out of his guest at that exact second but he'd instead decided to play nice guy.

He almost wanted to tell Sephiroth to do more than tease. The years should have taken the urge to just play into the hands of his friends.

"You want what?" Cloud asked. "That's a little personal."

"Riku!" Leon managed. "Is here. And probably naked, in my house. So..."

Sephiroth chuckled, slipping around Leon. "How noble of you."

"I can go ask elsewhere?"

"Save the kid wearing Cid's clothes, Seph," Cloud said firmly. "Leon will pay us back later."

Leon wondered exactly when Sephiroth had finished frying Cloud's poor little mind. Because that sounded painfully like Cloud was inviting the sort of tryst that had only managed to leave them all unable to look at one another for days.

Adulthood. Sex. All so troublesome. But not nearly as disastrous as trying to sleep with Aerith, which he knew Aerith still blamed herself for. Hence the chocolate cakes. They all had such broken motivations - despite managing to restore the town, their own psyches hadn't quite recovered.

He sighed. And nodded.

As if Riku would be any less tempting poured into skintight black.


	2. Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days pass and Leon and Riku begin a strange fumble into the beginnings of a relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Freedom.

Leon almost put down his first cup of coffee but stopped short. He could see the kitchen light reflecting on the counter-top.

He could see the counter-top.

Despite all of the repairs that Leon knew how to do and was quite capable of doing, his own house had always been on the bottom of the priority list. Working sixteen hours in a day was nothing new. And for the last two days, that was exactly what he had done.

Cid's team was stealing the show for the day, however, re-routing a part of the electrical grid and forcing the last of the stagnant hydroelectric generators into action.

So Leon had the day off. Finally.

And living with Riku hadn't been so bad because he had barely seen Riku. But Riku had apparently stayed busy. The fistfuls of munny left on the counter each morning had done more than just feed his guest - so far the drooping shutters were no longer drooping but also sporting a new coat of paint. The counters were cleaned, the dishes put away, and the floor scrubbed.

The basement was even half-cleaned, which really was the nail in his coffin - at least a quarter of the things in the basement had come with the house. He didn't even know what was down there. Cloud had stuffed some things down there. Yuffie had asked to store... something.

He did want to set his coffee down... After looking around for a minute, he found a trivet and hoped for the best.

Riku was earning his keep, honestly and with enthusiasm that Leon couldn't even imagine.

They hadn't talked. Not about that moment or about anything. Leon had just given Riku the couple of sets of clothing that Sephiroth had provided and gone off to find Aerith and ask her to stop once a day to check on things.

"You're home."

Leon turned, smiling almost without thinking when he saw Riku at the edge of the kitchen. A moment later his brain processed that Riku was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts.

"You... cleaned."

Riku nodded, navigating the kitchen with practiced ease and getting a coffee mug for himself. "I don't have a job. Yet. So... I'll try to earn my keep."

"You don't have to." Leon took another hard swallow of his coffee. He needed to wake up a little more before dealing with anything.

"I'm not a charity case," Riku reminded him. "Besides, I have been going out, too. Aerith keeps stopping by and yesterday she bought me some clothing. Including underwear."

"Didn't think you wanted to borrow Sephiroth's drawers," Leon noted. "Sorry."

Chuckling, Riku paced along the outside wall of the kitchen. "Okay, you have a point. And hey, I'm sorry about the other day."

"Other day?" Obviously he needed more coffee - no sooner were the words out of his mouth than he knew exactly what Riku was talking about.

"Yeah. That, um, moment. I mean..."

Leon knew - the exact thought had struck him the day before - why he'd hesitated. Why he should hesitate. "If I touch you, I want to be touching you - not some memory or fantasy or anything else. I'm not sure I can do that."

For a second Riku frowned. But after a few seconds, the frown turned more to an introspective wince. Riku closed his eyes.

"You're right. I know you're right. And..."

"We'd only be cheating ourselves," Leon concluded. "I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about it."

A minute of silence passed between them as Leon poured himself another cup of coffee.

"Can we spar today?" Riku asked finally. "Since we didn't get to that first day?"

"Yeah," Leon agreed. "One more cup and I think you need pants."

"Sephiroth's bondage pants," Riku commented, laughing. "Did you pick those out on purpose? Or is his entire wardrobe made entirely of..."

Apparently, Leon decided, the look on his face had answered the question before Riku could ask it.

"Cloud picked everything out, actually," Leon continued, fairly sure he didn't have the facial expression for 'Okay, Cloud picked everything out, except for the black t-shirt with the artistic holes in the sides because I bought that and Sephiroth never wears it much anyway, probably because I bought it, but I never, ever need to tell you that'.

Five minutes later, Riku was wearing just that shirt, stretching and not bothering to pull down the bottom when it hiked upward. Not that Leon minded the view of Riku's stomach.

"We can go out to the Ravine Trail," Leon said as he pulled on his jacket. The morning was still cool and even on the warmest days, he felt naked without it. "It's too early for Cloud and Sephiroth to be up, anyway, if Cloud isn't working."

"I haven't seen them yet," Riku admitted. "I just remember them from before. When..."

Leon looked up from where he was pulling his gunblade from its case. His fingers had trailed halfway down the blade, paused on cool metal to see just what had made Riku fall silent.

"Riku?" He didn't like the look on Riku's face. More bad memories.

"Why do you trust me?" Riku asked suddenly. "You know what I've done and what I'm capable of!"

Leon smiled. "Because you're here. You're free to do what you want here. I don't think that any plan of Maleficent's would have you cleaning my basement or painting my shutters."

"Free..." Riku repeated before smiling. "I am, aren't I? Free of everything. Even fear."

"Fear?" Leon questioned, grabbing his gunblade and nodding in the direction of the door.

"That I'd do something," Riku replied. "Either to Kairi or Sora or just their wedding in general. I was afraid that I'd let my jealousy get the better of me. That I would finally march around town with both Tidus and Selphie on my arms, proving how much of a damned reject I really am. I..."

"Hey," Leon said as he closed the door behind them, curious just when it had been scrubbed clean of moss and mud, "you aren't one of the bad guys anymore. Remember that."

"I think I could still take you in a fight," Riku replied, a smile on his face. "Definitely Sora... Aunt Freya was doing better with Maleficent than he was."

"I'm not surprised," Leon commented, trying not to chuckle. He knew that Sora tended to let his skills slip at the worst times. And certainly he was not one to break patterns.

"Are there any Burmecians living in this town?" Riku asked a moment later. "I've seen quite a few other races, but..."

"Burmecians?" Leon asked. The name seemed familiar, but not overly so. Traverse Town had been full of books, though, all of which had helped him pass the time.

"Aunt Freya is Burmecian," Riku explained. "She's not my real aunt, I mean. She and my Uncle Fratley found me while traveling near Destiny Islands."

"We have Viera and the faerie-folk, and moogles..."

"Viera!" Riku exclaimed with a laugh. "Close, but not quite - imagine a Viera crossed with King Mickey and..."

Both men burst out laughing, because despite neither one wanting to admit it, they had just imagined the same scenario.

"Okay, not like that," Riku said. They were crossing through the beginnings of the final phases of restoration around the castle, on the way out the ravine. "But I mean, a physical cross. I think that's why I was always so comfortable around the king. He just reminded me of home."

"That's the first time you mentioned an uncle."

"Oh, yeah." Riku frowned again. "One day he got a letter from an old friend, asking for help. He told Freya that he'd be back before she knew he was gone. And he never came back. I never forgot that - I think that's why it was so hard to go back home four years ago. Poor Aunt Freya - we just kept leaving her alone."

"She never went to look for him?" Leon asked. They'd arrived. He pulled his gunblade from its holster.

"Sometimes, but she never left me alone for long. She refused to leave me. And I... I just left her again, didn't I? She knew I was so frustrated - staying in town, but..." Riku reached into sub-space for his keyblade, pulling it forth almost forcefully.

"But she saw you go, right? With Maleficent. I'm sure as a warrior, she thought it was a noble sacrifice to make. For your friends. Because you care about them and aren't the awful person that you keep thinking you are." Leon took a few steps back, smiling. He remembered the Burmecians now - split into separate factions of peace-loving pacifists and highly skilled fighters. He didn't doubt which category Riku's aunt fell into, and the warrior's spirit within him flared.

"I'll see her again, someday," Riku replied. "I think you'd get along well with her."

Nodding, Leon gestured for Riku to come at him.

At least Riku's muscle wasn't all show. Leon had to step back to stay on his feet from the force of Riku's first blow. But whatever Riku was used to facing, it wasn't a gunblade. Normally, Leon didn't have speed on his side, but he did seem to be faster than Riku, despite not being stronger.

"Not bad for an old man," Riku taunted when he stumbled blocking one of Leon's swings.

"Old man?" Leon repeated, wanting to either pull the trigger once or throw a fireball. But neither was polite, not at close range, and he didn't want to actually hurt Riku, just teach him a little respect.

At least he knew he wasn't pulling his parries any longer.

The sun was beating down on them when Leon paused to cast his jacket aside, too warm to keep his arms covered. Riku was sweating as well, as he stood at the ready.

Leon knew one thing - Riku had better damned well be on his side, because only Cloud or Sephiroth would be capable of taking the young man down. If they were also on his side that day.

But if, at any time, all three of them had temporarily defected, he could also assume that there would be no literal swords involved and the only thing he'd really lose would be his clothing.

He didn't mind the thought as he pulled up the hem of his shirt to wipe his forehead.

"Getting tired?" Riku asked, finally giving up his stance and sliding over to Leon's side.

"You?" Leon asked back, smirking to see Riku breathing so heavily.

"Eh," Riku replied. "Guess it's about time you bought me lunch."

"I could do that," Leon agreed. "Because I rather like what you're doing with the basement."

"That's a hard bargain," Riku commented. "But I am developing an addiction to those noodles. I ate at another little place yesterday and..."

"Not as good?"

"Not as good," Riku echoed. "So it's settled, then."

"Yeah." Leon still liked watching keyblades slide back into their nothingness. He'd never needed that sort of magic and being able to do it unconsciously like the keyblade bearers was far beyond what he knew his ability to be.

A few steps back towards town and Riku was at his side, matching his steps but not saying anything.

"What?" Even if it was a bad thing to ask, it had to be better than the silence.

"What you said," Riku replied. "I still think I'm the selfish one. Even if I haven't quite gotten anything I want. And I bet they all think I'm a hero now. I'm not."

"There's no cut and dried path to being a hero," Leon said. "Ask Cloud."

"You tell me to ask Cloud about everything."

Leon shrugged. "He has better stories than I do. Or have you heard them all?"

"No," Riku said. "I didn't really... talk to Cloud much. I had other things on my mind then."

"Does being here make you uncomfortable? The castle?" Leon glanced up, to where the structure loomed above them.

Riku followed Leon's gaze, pausing and staring. "Yes. And no. I don't know."

"That's not a bad answer." Leon saw no reason to linger, instead continuing towards town. Riku would catch up.

He just wished that it would have taken a little less than ten minutes before Riku dropped his weight onto the chair beside him just like he had that first day.

Ten minutes. Leon couldn't help feeling a little wary about that, but he also knew that what Sora had told him only scratched the surface of what Riku had gone through, especially in that castle.

Still, the idea of hiring out at least Paine to do a little spying seemed like a fairly good idea.

"The same as last time?" Leon hadn't even noticed the black-haired waitress bounding up to attack Riku with her contagious smile.

"Yes, ma'am," Riku replied, smiling back.

"Not 'ma'am'!" the waitress chided as best she could without laughing. "You call me 'miss' next time or I won't get you anything."

And before Riku could reply, she had vanished back to the kitchen.

"She's weird," Riku said after another few seconds.

"I think she's related to Yuffie," Leon said. "Really. I think she's related to Yuffie. But I'm not sure how."

"Is everyone here related?" Riku reached to toy with the salt shaker. "Or just the interesting people?"

"It isn't a big town," Leon commented. "We're still learning how to get by without Ansem's assistance."

"He knew how to manipulate things," Riku said. "Most of the time, anyway. But he was too easily blinded."

Not willing to question that bit of knowledge, Leon simply sat back to watch Riku.

Ten minutes. That could have been a lifetime.

"We should actually go grocery shopping."

"We?" Leon asked.

"You. I need a job. I can do anything," Riku added, as if somehow that had escaped Leon's notice.

"I'll talk to Cid," Leon said, wondering if it was such a good idea. "If anyone will know a good place for you to work, it'll be him."

"I can do it," Riku said quickly. "I'm not going to be a burden on you."

"Here you boys go," the waitress interjected, unloading plates in front of them. "Enjoy!"

"Two more, if you don't mind."

Leon would know that voice anywhere. Cloud.

He looked up to see both Cloud and Sephiroth standing there, each with a hand on the two empty chairs at the table.

"Sit down," Leon said quickly. As strange as lunch with the pair was, it was almost welcome after spending the morning alone with Riku.

"You're easy to find," Cloud said as he sat. "You're looking good, Riku."

"You too, Cloud," Riku replied, seemingly torn between his lunch and Cloud's attention. Somehow Leon was instantly doubtful that all the pair had between them was idle talking.

He flicked his gaze over to Sephiroth, who was silently appraising the situation.

"He looks good in that," he finally said, gesturing in Riku's direction. Leon nodded, remembering that Riku had slid into one of the borrowed outfits. Somehow, he'd forgotten. Or not forgotten, but at least not let it drill into his mind that Riku was wearing the same clothing that he'd once happily peeled from Sephiroth's body, tasting and kissing the skin beneath when Cloud had been off on long jobs.

"Yeah," Leon replied. And then he decided to eat, as opposed to even trying to carry on a conversation that he knew would just get him in even further over his head.

He had almost mentioned that Aerith had been kind enough to take Riku out to buy underwear.

He was fairly glad that he hadn't.

And until the black-haired waitress slid plates in front of Sephiroth and Cloud, he'd done the best he could to ignore Cloud's fingers lingering on Riku's shoulder, twisted into silver-hair with some semblance of possession.

"So what brings you from your world?" Sephiroth asked, once silence had descended on the table and Cloud had decided to keep his hands to himself.

"It's a long story," Riku replied, looking almost helplessly over to Leon for some sort of help. "Probably longer than is worth telling."

"Sephiroth, are you familiar with the Burmecians?" Leon asked quickly. He knew that Sephiroth consumed knowledge, specifically on battle tactics, magic, and anything else within his scope of interest.

"Burmecians." The smile on his face was telling. "Noble warriors, skilled with weapons and magic. Once upon a time, hundreds of years ago, a small group of them helped save a nearby town of faerie-folk from a terrible monster. Since then, the name of their leader has been passed on amongst the fae as a sign of honor. Hela Crescent. My mother's half-sister was named Lucrecia Crescent as part of that tradition."

Riku choked on his drink, coughing long enough that their waitress was at his side, offering him another napkin and a good, firm smack on the back.

"Burmecians named Crescent," Riku finally managed, a wide-smile forming on his face. "Leon asked because I was raised by my aunt - Freya Crescent. A Burmecian."

"Then she must be a very strong woman," Sephiroth commented, glancing from Riku to Cloud. Leon wished he hadn't spoken. Obviously he hadn't managed to divert attention properly at all. "I would be honored to meet a Burmecian bearing the name of Crescent."

"Yeah," Riku said. "I've heard so many stories from her. But not one like that. Maybe she thought I wouldn't be interested. Or didn't want to encourage me to follow in her footsteps."

"She taught you to fight to protect yourself, didn't she?" Leon asked.

"And Sora and Kairi," Riku answered. "Because Sora was pretty wussy when he was younger. And Kairi... should have somehow been able to draw out some of her innate magic ability."

"There's a difference between potential and ability." All three men looked over at Cloud. "Some people have one or the other, and some have both."

"And some beg, borrow and steal theirs," Riku said coolly. "I know."

"Riku!"

Aerith stood in the doorway, waving.

Riku gestured for her to come over to the table.

"I hope no one minds," he said, "that I did promise Aerith that I would give her a hand this afternoon. She bought me, um, a few things and I promised hard physical labor in return."

"My flowers need fertilizer," Aerith said with an amused grin before leading a red-faced Riku out of the café.

"That was low," Sephiroth said, shaking his head.

"That was Aerith," Cloud corrected.

Leon excused himself, content to sort things in his basement for the remainder of the day.

The sound of the door softly opening, closing and locking just as he had turned off his bedroom light made the thought of sleep a little easier. Leon trusted Aerith with Riku, after all, but it had been getting a little late. Even if she had forced an entire cake on him.

From his bed, he could hear Riku moving around, into the spare room and back to the bathroom - quiet a moment before the shower turned on.

Leon chuckled, wondering if Aerith really had made Riku spread fertilizer all afternoon. If so, the shower was more than well deserved.

And then he fell asleep, or thought he fell asleep, because suddenly he knew that he was awake and that the much-more-familiar weight of Riku's body was sharing his bed.

"I'm home."

That could have been said from the doorway.

"Riku?" Leon asked, reaching over for the bedside lamp.

"Don't." A hand caught his. "I just... Lunch. Every time Cloud said something to me, you... You two really drifted, didn't you?"

"You're... I don't want to ruin something good by sleeping together," Leon protested. Riku's hand was warm, holding his and not letting go.

"But, Leon," Riku said, shifting on the bed so that Leon could feel his breath as he spoke, "you're the one who told me that this was a chance at freedom from expectations."

That was a good way of putting it, Leon decided, wishing he'd actually worded it as such. Except that...

"Expect nothing," Riku said. "I was thinking about it when I was with Aerith. Start with nothing, expect nothing, and... neither one of us will get hurt."

Leon remembered being twenty, when backwards, insane logic made perfect sense and when he would have agreed with Riku wholeheartedly.

And when Riku kissed him, he responded, opening his mouth to Riku's tongue and letting Riku nibble at his lower lip, drawing out a single kiss into an act that left him breathless.

He knew at that moment that in both senses of the word, he was fucked.

Absolutely fucked.

"Riku," he managed once he had his tongue back in his own mouth. "This..."

There was no point in bothering with any further protests. Not when the hand that wasn't still being held by Riku was tangled in Riku's hair. Not when he wanted to be naked. Not when the more he thought about it, the idea of having Riku as his, even for an infinitely small amount of time, made the ache between his legs increase tenfold.

"This would be easier if we were on the same side of the blankets."

Riku chuckled, letting go of Leon and slipping under the thin, spring blankets that Leon knew he'd need to wash in the morning. Reaching over to peel away night clothing, Leon was surprised to find just skin. No wonder he hadn't been allowed to grab for the light.

With nothing to stop him, Leon slid a hand down Riku's back, curiosity turning to lust when Riku let a soft moan escape from between his lips.

They kissed again, a mutual meeting of mouths and tongues to distract from hands almost nervously working together to take care of the pajama bottoms that Leon did have on. But elastic was a wonderful creation and pushed down to the end of the bed, the clothing in question was quickly forgotten about.

Riku pounced, forcing their bodies together as he pressed Leon flat on his back. Leon hissed as a hand slid along his erection to effectively knock away of the last remaining resolve that Leon might have had.

He groped at Riku, finding Riku's arousal and sliding his fingers over the slick tip before Riku pulled back.

"Not yet," Riku said. "I want to touch you first."

Leon swallowed hard, wondering just when and how Riku had learned this art. Certainly not with blushing, stammering Sora. No, as Riku trailed kisses down his chest and licked at his nipples, Leon was positive that Riku had gotten a more than proper instruction from his encounters with darkness.

Riku's tongue traced his navel, teasing lower but avoiding his arousal. Hands were on Leon's legs, but Leon knew that if he dared push Riku towards something he'd been protesting just minutes before, he wouldn't be able to look at himself in the mirror come morning.

He held his breath as Riku shifted, feeling the soft tickle of Riku's hair on his stomach at the same instant warm breath hit his erection. His breath came out as a moan, almost too loud as Riku's tongue teased at the tip, lapping up the tiny bead of fluid that had gathered before taking hardness deeper into his mouth.

"Ah... Riku..." Leon grabbed at the pillow, trying to find something to do with his hands that didn't involve pulling Riku's hair. He wanted to be touching Riku in the same way, kissing and tasting and licking and sucking. Riku's mouth was tempting him with a quick release, sheer pleasure as hands wandered to touch his scrotum and explore farther.

Not yet...

"Stop..." And Riku did, pulling away as though Leon's protest had physically injured him.

"Leon?"

"Not... just for a minute..." Leon grabbed for Riku, kissing him and probably leaving a bruise or two as their arms tangled and they slammed awkwardly onto the bed.

Riku chuckled. "Turn on the light?"

"I have some lotion," Leon said as he crawled over Riku to grab at the lamp on the bed-table, nearly knocking it over once before turning it on. He glanced down at Riku, surprised at Riku's blush.

Smiling, he grabbed the lotion and handed it to Riku.

"Okay?" Riku asked, eyes meeting Leon's and locking.

"Yeah," Leon replied as he closed his eyes for another kiss. He grasped at Riku's erection, stroking firmly and enjoying the moans vibrating in his own mouth as Riku's tongue found his.

He wanted to keep touching Riku - wanted to explore every inch of Riku's body, but when Riku broke the kiss to reach and push Leon's legs apart, Leon knew that he wouldn't be able to focus on anything but his own body and his own pleasure.

Far too long had passed since he'd been with anyone... as such. Even as Riku uncapped the lotion and smiled, Leon couldn't help an inward wince. The feel of slick fingers, however, teasing around his opening managed to chase away the last lingering bits of apprehension. And as one finger pressed inside of him, slowly, Leon could do nothing but moan. He closed his eyes, relaxing against Riku's hands as one stayed lightly stroking his arousal while he was stretched as gently as he could ever remember.

"Ready?" Fingers pulled back, and the hand on his erection paused.

Leon chuckled, wondering if there was a proper thing to say when being seduced by a gorgeous younger man. He nodded, hoping that his amusement wasn't being taken the wrong way. He opened his eyes to look into aqua, waiting for penetration.

He could feel Riku's erection against him, pressing gently against muscle that was quite willing to give.

"Yes," Leon whispered, hooking his legs around Riku to tempt him forward. And Riku finally thrust, closing his eyes and gasping, pausing halfway before shifting slightly to fully press himself into Leon's body.

He didn't want the moment to recover - didn't want anything other than the motion of the fullness within him. Riku caught on quickly, pulling back then thrusting - hard enough to move the bed against the wall and make the springs shudder and moan just as loudly as the noises both men made.

Leon noticed, but he didn't care. Riku was moving perfectly, arching back enough that he could stroke his own erection to match the rhythm even though he was damned sure that he would come just from watching Riku and listening to him, completely separate from the pleasure radiating through his body from where Riku's body joined his.

A few hard thrusts in an increasingly arrhythmic pattern told Leon all that he needed to know. He could release - stop holding back as his hands slid over his arousal.

"Ah!" Riku was watching him, watching him come. He closed his eyes, feeling one of Riku's hands on his much-too-sensitive erection to catch the last bits of his seed. And he knew that was all Riku needed, too, as he listened to Riku's moans a moment later.

For a minute they stayed joined, not speaking, just clinging to one another. Leon wanted to laugh, not at Riku's lack of breath but because somehow, he couldn't bring himself to think that he'd done anything too terrible.

Though that wasn't a new feeling either.

For a hot second, he hoped that he was dreaming.

But he knew that he wasn't.


	3. Valor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon has to ask a very important question. Now with 99% more lightcycles!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Many thanks to Kitty for giving me a once over on the plot! For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Valor.

Leon stared at the ceiling as the sun finally peeked above the nearby roofs to let in enough light for him to see the ceiling. Before the sun had risen, he'd simply stared upward. Because he was awake.

Deciding that in a few years, the cracks in the plaster would spread far enough to join and begin sprinkling little bits of dust down onto him when the headboard hit the wall, Leon shifted to stare instead out the window. Up at the roof across the alleyway. One he'd put on, actually, because when everything had been put back together, it hadn't all been done correctly.

In a few years, when the headboard hit the wall...

Even turned in the opposite direction, Leon could feel the heat of Riku's body behind his. They weren't touching, but they had been. Before Leon had woken up in the same way he kept waking up - suffocating in that beautiful silver hair.

In no way did he want Riku out of his bed. But he had to figure out the proper way to pause in the middle of the day and calmly ask that Riku ask Aerith for a hair-tie or two. Because he could only think of himself as greedy - wanting to press his body against Riku's and inhale the nice, natural scent of Riku's skin.

Cloud had helped with that roof, Leon suddenly remembered. And for as many times as he'd shared a bed with any combination of his friend and Sephiroth, he'd never actually slept. Not a wink.

At least, with Riku, he could sleep. Well, until Riku's hair decided that it had other ideas, that was.

But at least that took the better part of the night to happen. Leon almost smiled at the thought of what the morning would bring since neither of them had any work lined up.

Either they'd make it to the shower - or maybe just the bathroom or even only to the room that Riku didn't tend to spend any time in anymore other than to change clothing because despite moving his body in with Leon, he hadn't moved any of his things - or they wouldn't. Leon didn't care. He'd lost this part of his youth to daily survival in Traverse Town.

He had missed fucking. Being fucked. Being kissed and groped while trying to make breakfast - being the one doing the kissing and groping while Riku tried to take care of the breakfast dishes...

So far, for the past three weeks since the night Riku had crawled into his bed, they had done an exorbitant amount of fucking. Leon wasn't sure he wanted to ask where Riku had learned a few of the positions he'd guided their bodies into, or exactly who had been possessing his body when he learned how to drop to his knees and offer perfect oral pleasure.

And so far, he didn't really mind waking up just a little sore, either. They were happy.

Or, Leon decided as the sun lifted itself above the peak of the roof whose shingles he'd laid down by hand, they thought that they were happy.

Because eventually, well, all the fucking would lead to something more... To making love?

He couldn't help himself. Leon chuckled.

Yeah, he'd ask Riku about hair-ties and when to move their relationship to wherever it was supposed to move to, if it was even mobile.

Silence.

He... had just given a tiny bit of thought to where things would lead. Or should lead.

A... future.

Rolling away from the sun, Leon reached to brush away Riku's hair before softly kissing Riku's neck. Riku barely stirred, shifting only to close a bit of the distance between their bodies.

Sliding away, Leon climbed out of the bed and grabbed at the pajama bottoms that he hadn't even bothered to put on the night before. Foreshadowing, after all.

Breakfast had been interesting at first, when Riku had started making the fish-centric dishes that he was used to. And when Riku had looked disdainfully at some of the meat that Leon had in the freezer. And when...

At least they'd managed to agree on waffles, and waffles were exactly what Leon was attempting to make, straight from the box. They had turned out not-so-burned the day before, which gave him hope for a repeat.

"Leon."

He knew the voice. Much too well.

"Waffle?" he asked the faerie, gesturing to the waffle-maker that he knew had come with the house and had required Cid to rewire it before it could be used without making more smoke than waffles.

"He's asleep." Paine was not asking a question, Leon knew. She was making a statement. She had quite likely cast an extra sleep spell on him on her way through, just in case.

"So..." He was paying Paine to report to him, after all, not to sit on his kitchen table and glare.

"You had good reason to be suspicious."

His hands were empty again; he had nothing to drop. Though his voice did seem to be misplaced for the moment. He looked downward, just in case it had settled near his bare feet.

Two seconds later, Paine had zipped under his nose, her arms crossed across her chest as she shook her head.

"You wanted to know."

"I did," Leon admitted. He had gone through with his idea to hire Paine to do a little spying on Riku, especially while he was working. And he really wanted to regret it, now. What he hadn't known wasn't hurting him. Yet.

"They just talk," Paine offered with a frown. "I can't get close enough to hear them or she'll notice me. But I have a friend..."

"I'll pay you both," Leon said without thinking. "Ask her to..."

"Him," Paine corrected. "We have the same weapons instructor."

"Him," Leon repeated. "Fine."

"I'll even ask him to stay outside your house when you're both home."

Leon froze. He had asked the faerie to check up on Riku whenever possible, but...

"Though really, I don't know what he sees in you," Paine commented before zipping over to point at the counter. "Your waffles are burning."

Lunging for the waffle-maker, Leon managed to open it and unplug it at the same time, sending a burst of smoke through the kitchen.

His waffles were black. He could empathize.

And now he had a question to go with his request: Please put your hair up before you fall asleep and why do you keep meeting with Maleficent, anyway?

Not a good combination.

Wait... Paine had seen... But she had vanished as silently as she had appeared.

With a gentle push, the kitchen window opened far enough for Leon to dump the remainders of what should have been breakfast into the alleyway. At least the birds would have something to eat.

Riku... he could take out to the little café that was always willing to feed them.

"Something burning?"

Leon had just tossed the batter bowl into the sink. Paine hadn't put a sleep spell on Riku after all. Even with a natural resistance to faerie magic, a decent sleep spell would have put him out for another few hours.

No, Paine had just been calling things as she saw them. He had always liked that about her.

"Burned. Past tense. Breakfast," Leon admitted. "Get dressed. We can go out."

"It's early," Riku noted. "And we both have the day off. We can go back to bed."

Leon wanted to take his newfound knowledge and use it to support a protest. But Riku hadn't even bothered with boxers, instead choosing to stand naked in the kitchen doorway with his hair hanging wild and loose over his shoulders.

"Only if you put your hair up," Leon mumbled, much too softly for Riku to actually hear.

"Huh?"

"Only for a little while," Leon said quickly. "It's a nice day. We could..."

"We could what?" Riku asked as he took a few steps into the kitchen. "Spar, like every day off? Have lunch with Cloud and Sephiroth and watch you bristle every time Cloud touches me?"

Leon frowned. For as much as he'd thought that Riku was soliciting a slow romp back through one of their beds, this was...

Simply boredom speaking, he hoped.

"You pick, then," Leon said. He could always bow out, after all. Or maybe he was just being the disagreeable one.

Riku stood with his mouth open, as if he wanted to say a thousand things and not a one would dare form into anything audible.

"Think about it," Leon continued as he brushed past Riku and through the doorway. "I'm going back to bed."

"You didn't get me," Riku announced before turning and grabbing the back of Leon's pajamas to pull enough that Leon almost fell backwards. "I have something in mind."

"I'm sure you do." Leon reached back to pull Riku's hand free. "Dinner with Cloud and Sephiroth, then?"

"That's not funny." Riku was frowning when Leon turned to face him. However, with Riku buck naked, Leon couldn't help smiling at the sight. "What?"

"Don't move," Leon said as he dropped to his knees. Riku gasped as Leon reached to touch his penis. At least the blinds were closed.

"You want me to stand here?" Riku tried to ask, losing the end to a moan as Leon replaced his hands with his mouth, licking at soft flesh until it hardened between his lips. "Ah!"

A part of Leon knew that Riku had a point, however. He was a creature of habit, in the end. If something worked, he couldn't see much reason to do anything different. With just a couple of minor changes, the exact same things that made Cloud come fast in his mouth made Riku do just the same. Faster, but shallower. Just a hint of teeth. Reach. Tease.

Riku pulled back, silently reaching behind his body until he found the sofa and collapsed onto it.

"Like to see you stand there and take that..." he muttered before spreading his legs enough for Leon to settle between them and resume the act.

"Sure," Leon said. "But don't you want to come first?"

But before Riku could respond, Leon took the tip of Riku's arousal back in his mouth, spreading saliva with his hands over the length of it.

"Yes," he finally whispered, before leaning back fully. "Yes."

Leon was almost surprised when he felt Riku's body tense before release. He'd expected Riku to pull him away and take him. He almost wanted that, despite the delicious possibilities for what would happen once the obvious scenario was ruled out.

Swallowing as best he could, Leon could feel the pull of Riku's hands at his hair. Accidental, but very real. He licked his lips once before kissing Riku's stomach and reaching to unthread the hands from his hair to intertwine his own fingers with them instead.

Aqua eyes met his. Uncertain.

"Leon?"

He swallowed hard, curious yet hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Shower."

Well, he hadn't actually been expecting anything romantic, after all.

"Yeah," Leon agreed, letting go of Riku's hands and getting to his feet. He didn't bother to offer Riku a hand - he knew that Riku wouldn't take it.

Instead, he just headed towards the bathroom, shedding his pajama bottoms in the process.

"Y'know," Riku began as he closed the bathroom door, "I think we're going to be doing more with Sephiroth and Cloud than just have lunch."

That was another thing that they just hadn't talked about - Sephiroth and Cloud, singular or as a combined entity. After all, Leon just wasn't sure on the etiquette for that. Especially when Riku had been half-possessed. And he'd just been... lonely?

Before Leon could ask, a pair of fingers trailed down his spine, settling just at the top of his buttocks. Reaching to steady himself against the sink, Leon was far from surprised when those fingers forced their way lower.

Almost out of soap, Leon noticed a second before he squeezed his eyes shut. The thought stuck in his mind, almost comedic as he let Riku guide his body to a slightly less awkward position.

Clinging to porcelain. Legs spread. At least a few new experiences were still to be had.

Lubricant - proper, designed-just-for-sex-lubricant purchased from a leering moogle - was cool against his skin and the ring of muscle that Riku pressed fingers past. He wanted to shiver, but with the heat of Riku's body against his, he was warm. Hot. Burning.

Leon managed to open his eyes for a moment, almost surprised to see his own reflection in the mirror, wide-eyed and tousled, cheeks red and lips parted ever so slightly. And Riku behind him, eyes closed in concentration, smiling.

He gasped, his grip on the sink slipping a bit when Riku pushed another finger into his body. Riku opened his eyes, almost surprised for a second to be meeting his own gaze.

"Watching us?" he asked, pulling fingers away and quickly positioning his erection at Leon's entrance. "Can I lie and say that I planned that, too?"

"Yes," Leon whispered, pushing back just a bit as a prompt. As often as they fucked, he knew Riku still masturbated. And took pleasure in simple handjobs. Acted his age.

"Then keep your eyes open," Riku said as he guided his arousal forward, thrusting deep into Leon's body.

Leon tried. He tried. But he failed, unable to see Riku's equally flushed expression for just a few seconds.

With his eyes open, finally, and Riku's hand on his well-past-ready erection, he could see Riku moving against him. And how he moved as he tried as best he could while trapped between sink and sex to equal the movements.

The fullness was nearly overwhelming - the angle, the way Riku was slowly pulling back even though the hand on his cock was daring him to lose control and come.

He wanted to let go. Of everything. Of Paine's visit and worrying about how to discuss anything...

If only for a few more minutes. Before he had to clean the floor. And find a new bar of soap.

Riku started to move faster, thrusting harder. Leon couldn't watch - couldn't watch himself be fucked. And Riku didn't force him to, even though aqua eyes hadn't moved from their almost fixed gaze.

Moaning much too loudly for the small room, Leon released into Riku's hand, feeling the warm heat of his own seed spread over his erection until he just really couldn't feel anything other that Riku's arms holding him up.

"Hang on," Riku whispered before licking the outline of his ear. "I'll come quick."

Porcelain. White. His own even more mussed reflection staring curiously at him between hard, quick thrusts. And Riku, over his shoulder, silver hair wildly moving for a combined, insane effect.

Riku grabbed at Leon as he came, hands rough on his hips as he forced their bodies together. Leon's stomach hit the sink, thankful he was hunched enough to not have risked bruising anything more important.

Together, they panted, each eyeing the bathtub but both too tired to move for a few moments longer.

"Sorry," Riku finally mumbled, stumbling back. "Did I hurt you?"

"You hit me harder all the time," Leon replied, diving at the tub and turning the water on. It was cool, but felt good against his skin.

Putting the stopper in, Leon crawled into the tub. He didn't care about flipping the middle handle to send the water up to the shower. A bath was fine. He didn't have to stand for that, after all.

A minute later, Riku splashed into the tub before letting out what had to be the girliest shriek that Leon could remember - that hadn't come from a girl, he corrected at the thought of Aerith's last venture cleaning somewhere with large, fuzzy spiders.

"Cold," Riku grumbled from where he had ended up, perched on the edge of the tub. Leon chuckled.

"Didn't say it wasn't." But he did reach for the hot water knob in hopes that the aged hot water heater in the basement would work quickly.

"You're buying breakfast."

Leon felt the water warming up as it hit his toes. He hadn't ever doubted that he would be the one buying breakfast. After all, he'd been the one to burn the original attempt.

Riku dipped a hand into the bath.

"We're going to need Tifa, I think," Riku said a moment later. "Do you have her number?"

Leon shook his head. Tifa had his number. Tifa had everyone's number. And not, exactly, in the sense that had anything to do with telephones.

"You don't find Tifa," Leon said slowly. "She finds you."

"Then hopefully she'll find us," Riku commented before finally easing his body into the water. Leon lunged at the tap, managing to stop the water just before it lapped over the edge of the tub.

In the silence that followed, with Riku's body against his as they tried to find a comfortable way to share the water, Leon could hear the soft trickle of the overflow.

He still needed to clean the floor, after all.

Dried and dressed an hour later, Leon followed Riku out of the house. The sun was crawling lazily upwards in the sky, bright enough that Leon didn't question the sunglasses on the man walking by just as they were leaving.

Though the slight tip of the newsboy hat that covered messy black hair certainly struck Leon as odd. Unless the man knew Riku. But Riku didn't say a word about him as they walked on towards the café.

"Did you want to ask me something earlier?" Riku asked just before they got to the block that housed the café. Leon froze. Between his brain and his mouth, he tried to pick the best option. One that wouldn't jeopardize anything. If Riku wanted rice with dinner. If he had a preference in soap. If...

But he also couldn't believe he kept avoiding the more important issues when it came to Riku.

Time to bite the bullet, metaphorically.

Though as the words fell out of his mouth, he almost wished for a real one.

"Do you have to sleep with your hair down?"

A few seconds of absolute silence passed.

And Riku laughed. "Right, because otherwise it ends up everywhere. I knew that."

But Leon did see the frown that followed, even though it was very brief. There was another sentence that should have followed, but he wasn't sure quite how it went.

'Sora told me that.' Or 'Cloud told me that.'

Leon opened the door to the café, listening to the tiny string of bells jingle just above his head.

He decided, for the time being, that he'd already said too much.

Or hadn't said enough.

Teaching Tifa the mechanics to sending everyone into Ansem's computer had probably not been one of his better ideas, but at the time, three years earlier, he and Cloud had enjoyed the healthy competition of the lightcycle races.

But how Riku had found out about the game was beyond Leon's knowledge. Certainly, he hadn't thought that Riku's surprise for the day would have involved quickly orchestrating a four-man series of races complete with digital versions of their usual weapons.

"You look good in blue," Riku commented, slipping between the lightcycle Leon had selected and his own.

Leon nodded before pulling Riku into a quick kiss that lingered. Of all the things he really hadn't done with Riku during the morning, a lengthy locking of lips was at the top of the list. Though cyberspace certainly was neither the time nor place.

"We could have selected a different option." Cloud's voice was hard to ignore. "There's a setting for a team-mode. One driver, one... defensive specialist."

"Next time," Riku said as he tucked his hair behind his ears. "I want to try this on my own, first."

Cloud chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything else from you. But c'mon, get on the cycle. Once we're all on, the game will begin."

Riku nodded, hopping up on the cybermachine. He smiled, glancing over once at Leon.

Leon swallowed hard. Sephiroth was already waiting, his body a glowing masterpiece of leather and luminescent feathers. Cloud slid onto his cycle a second later.

And he could hear the countdown. No time to worry about Riku, after all. Because second place was the first loser.

Flooring his cycle right off the line, Leon concentrated on where the walls and columns were appearing. Ducking as Cloud's sword swung over his head, he followed up with a quick thrust of his own gunblade. He was half-tempted to try to fire it, to see what it would do in a controlled environment.

A cycle bumped against Cloud's, knocking the blond off and into a wall. Leon smiled when he realized it was Riku. He knew quite well that Sephiroth was quite willing to sacrifice Cloud for his own gain, but there was just something about seeing Riku do the same thing.

Because, of course, they could work out all of their interpersonal issues silently by smashing each other up on lightcycles.

Leon was thrilled by his own genius - enough that he told his brain to shut up and drive. Certainly, in a real battle, he didn't pause to wonder if his foes had been trading meat the night before and if that was affecting the way they worked together.

"Hey!" Riku pulled closer, yelling over at Leon as they made a sharp left in perfect unison.

"What?" Leon yelled back.

"I did sleep with him. Back then."

Leon wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything or not.

Riku just shrugged as he pulled his cyber-keyblade from his side.

"But he wasn't my first or anything."

Leon was still pondering those words as he removed himself from the wall that Riku had shoved him into.

Three races later, he'd finally managed to make his way into the lead. With only the walls to watch for, Leon focused on driving.

One out of four wasn't bad, after all.

The program's announcer stated his victory a moment later, letting him slide to a stop just past the finish line as a small screen popped in front of him, showing him the progress of the other racers.

More interesting than the race, which looked more like a standstill as the three other men fought it out without moving forward, was the program modification that Tron had been working on - a virtual garage in which the lightcycles could actually be customized and tuned.

But most of that was done from the console, sadly, with Tron acting as the genial parts-seller.

Tron, who still asked about Sora with a sad sort of smile on his face.

Later, he'd have to come back and remember to tell the system that Sora had finally stumbled most of the way through puberty and found himself a wife. And then laugh at the system crash that would follow.

Cloud managed to skid across the finish line just as Leon looked up. Sephiroth had a firm hold on Cloud, his disabled lightcycle dragging behind him.

Leon shook his head. He didn't want to know.

"Where's Riku?" he asked, glancing down the track.

Cloud shrugged.

"Wall," Sephiroth said. "He'll be fine."

"I didn't doubt that," Leon replied as he helped steady Sephiroth's cycle. Definitely needed to be deleted.

"He had a good idea," Cloud said. "This has been... fun."

"Yeah," Leon replied. "Probably more for the two of us, though. Just like we used to."

Friendship. Without complication. He definitely missed that feeling.

"We can ride double next time," Cloud decided. "You and me, like before..."

"Before?" Both men glanced awkwardly at Sephiroth.

"When..."

Cloud didn't get to finish his sentence - they all had to lunge out of the way as Riku came barreling over the line, crashing into Sephiroth's cycle. Before Leon could so much as move in Riku's direction, they were briefly flashed through one of the inner consoles and then forced quickly into the castle basement.

"You guys okay?" Tifa cried, running over to Cloud. "I did it too quick, didn't I? Cloud?"

"It's okay," Cloud said. "Thanks for running the program for us."

"No problem," Tifa replied before putting her hands on her hips and staring up at Sephiroth. "But next time I want in. I bet I could finally beat you, Seph."

Sephiroth just chuckled.

"Hey, I mean it." Tifa stomped once, the sound echoing from the metal floor.

"Tifa," Leon warned as he stretched. Somehow, his own body felt just a little foreign after emerging from the computer.

"That was great!" Riku was sitting on the floor, looking at the backs of his hands as if his body was an utter wonder to him. But then, Leon could remember the first trip he'd made into the machine. He understood.

"Would have been better if you could drive," Cloud said. "I can teach you. The physics are totally different in that thing, so... um... You need practice."

And Leon couldn't find the urge to protest. Barriers had been broken, after all. He knew he could trust Cloud - and Riku, to not repeat anything from the past.

The sun had risen on more things than the rooftops.


	4. Wisdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revenge of the Lightcycles, Revelations, Smut, and attack of the plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Wisdom.

"Stop yawning," Cloud said as he glared at Leon for a moment, as if he had fought off a yawn of his own to provoke the comment. "Don't you sleep?"

"Not last night," Leon replied. "One of Cid's generators blew at about one. Sitting in the water, it was on fire anyway. At least the power grid didn't become unstable. We thought it might..."

"Should have called me," Cloud commented before shifting his focus to the computer screen. "And don't I get a turn? I have an idea for a motorcycle."

"Lightcycle," Leon corrected, chuckling. Three days had passed since the four-man races with Riku and Sephiroth and ever since, Leon had been itching to get back and interact more with the program.

"Whatever," Cloud said.

They both started laughing - nervously at first.

"You should have called," Cloud reiterated. "I'm not going to lie and say that we could have really helped, but we might have - Seph and I."

"At the time, I didn't really think about it," Leon admitted. "Cid had me... and Tifa..."

"Never mind," Cloud said quickly. "Sure you three had it under control."

"Not much to control when a big hydroelectric generator is on fire despite being surrounded by water," Leon said. "Cid yelled when Tifa cast a water spell into the darned thing. A hydroelectric generator... Well, it was that or let it burn out. Either way, Cid's team has a job today."

He chuckled as he picked the exact shade of neon for his cycle and asked the system to save his progress before adding his cycle to the selectable racing choices.

"Your turn," he said, stepping aside. "And you can't still be that upset with Tifa - most men would be happy to have a beautiful woman follow him across worlds."

"Compared to Tifa, I feel safer with Sephiroth," Cloud replied as he loaded the file containing his own prototype lightcycle. "It's been awhile since we worked on these - Tron was just creating the program, then."

"Yeah."

There was a pause - silence as Cloud tinkered with the computer. Leon walked the length of the room twice, trying not to yawn again. He wasn't so much tired as he couldn't stop yawning.

He yawned.

"Do we have an operator?" Cloud asked suddenly, yet almost on cue. With the feeling he was being watched, Leon did suspect that someone else had arrived.

"We do," Leon admitted. That, originally, had been his idea - a necessary operator just in case there was a system error, or worse. He hadn't forgotten the feeling of having Sora trapped in the machine and didn't want to have to relive that any time soon. Tron had agreed, and together they'd nitpicked through a series of safety caches, including the requirement of an operator.

"Tifa?"

"Rikku," Leon replied. "Faerie girl Rikku, I mean."

"Oh." Cloud didn't look away from the screen. "Hey, this thing has new weapons options!"

"I am constantly evolving this program, since you all seem to enjoy it," Tron's heavily digitized voice informed them.

Leon chuckled - he forgot that usually, the system's microphone was left on, just in case.

"You're in trouble, Leon," Cloud said softly as he clicked at a couple of the keys on the keyboard.

"Aren't we playing as a team today?" Leon questioned. The idea of going up against Cloud wasn't particularly appealing after the crazy night he'd had.

"Oh. Right."

"Hey!"

Both men turned to see a human-sized Rikku standing in the doorway, looking as though she'd been there for awhile but had only just decided that they should know of her presence.

"You're..." Cloud paused as he looked over at her, not down.

"I can change back once you're in," Rikku commented as she walked across the room. "Too annoying to hit buttons otherwise, silly. Thought you'd be used to that."

Cloud blushed ever so slightly, but enough that Leon noticed. Spending most of his time with a faerie who preferred a more intimidating size surely should have left him accustomed to the possibility.

"I don't think we've been the same size for quite awhile," Leon said quickly, intervening between the pair. He knew that Rikku was rather well-in with the dealings between the faerie villages and often relied on her for information as more and more of the different races who had once lived in happy isolation from one another attempted to become good neighbors in the wake of the Heartless and everything surrounding that chapter of history. "Since you decided to shrink me..."

"Yuna and I are way better at that spell now," Rikku protested. "Besides, you had fun staying with Zell for the week until we figured out how to change you back!"

Leon swallowed hard and nodded. Once he'd gotten used to the hyper little faerie who constantly buzzed around him and he'd given up on finding his own cure in the treasure trove of tiny books on magic that he was finally the right size to read, things had become fairly interesting.

But that had been left in the faerie village as a mutual decision.

"Yeah," Leon said before looking back at his friend. "You ready?"

"We can tweak from the inside, too, right?" Cloud asked, a rare and honest smile forming on his face.

"Not to the same degree, but yeah," Leon replied.

"Let's go!"

"All right! I can't wait! I get to watch you race!" Rikku jumped up and clapped her hands before landing clumsily - likely having forgotten her current size.

"We're doing co-op," Leon reminded her as he nodded to Cloud. Time to go.

"Oh, good," Rikku commented as she skipped over to the console. "Cloud spends way too much time fighting to the death."

Cloud's eyes met Leon's for a moment as they stepped over to be digitized.

"What?" Leon asked. "She has a point."

Whatever Cloud said in response, however, was lost between reality and the virtual.

Stretching once in his digital body, Leon glanced upward at the neon and black sky. Ceiling. Whichever it was.

Cloud was already heading towards his cycle, which had just formed in front of him. The blond circled it once as Leon's was being added to the game, touching it lightly as though he was making sure it really was to his specifications.

"And weapons," Leon muttered as he felt the strange weight of a blunt sword being added to his back.

Armed.

Ready.

"Don't think I'm going to watch your back," Cloud warned as he swung a leg over the lightcycle.

"Don't think I'll watch yours," Leon replied, knowing that they were both utterly lying.

"It was bad enough that I had to watch out for Sephiroth the other day," Cloud commented, trying to hide the lightness of his tone. "Apparently being able to fly and teleport kept him from learning the fine art of driving."

"As if your crazy behavior is a 'fine art'," Leon shot back as he slipped onto his own cycle.

The countdown began. And then they were off...

The first half-kilometer was smooth, allowing both men to adjust to their new, uniquely programmed cycles. Just as Leon had received an echoing thumbs-up from Cloud, a dozen tiny red dots appeared on his radar screen.

Two dozen.

They were being chased by an army.

Apparently Cloud saw the wave coming at the same time, and his expression, Leon knew, likely mirrored his own.

Grabbing his sword, Leon managed to brake and cut down the first of the enemy riders. Cloud spun around, driving right back through the wave despite the warning arrows flashing above that he was going the wrong way.

Now Leon understood why his friend had started with a base model with specifications for tricks - the way Cloud was spinning and plowing down the enemy riders wasn't something that could have been done on the cycle that Leon had programmed.

Not to be outdone, but certainly sure he was going to be outdone, Leon could only keep braking when he could see his own blue dot about to be swarmed by the endless stream of red dots, then swinging his digital sword as hard as he could without wiping out.

Still, he was being hit, as was Cloud. There were just too many enemies - trying to adapt to machines they'd never ridden that they didn't even know worked properly, Leon couldn't help but feel a wave of utter dread once a warning flashed above his radar screen that they were heading into a maze of columns.

This wasn't what he'd told Rikku to do - and he trusted her to not throw them into the insane User-Must-Die mode that they seemed to be stuck in.

No longer were they racing and trying to pick off a few of the other racers. No, they were trying to survive. Even if the pain and 'death' were only virtual, Leon was not about to go down easily.

"Left!" Cloud yelled as he zoomed by and into the column maze via the right entrance.

Leon headed for the same entrance, swerving only at the last second to dart into the left entrance. He could feel the vibration of the crash of enemy riders as they hit the wall of the maze.

Two were still right behind him, and he knew he didn't dare swing at them or he'd miss a turn and go down. Already his virtual health was half-depleted. A crash would likely end it all, in the game mode he was stuck in.

One of the AI cycles behind him wiped out, blinking off Leon's radar screen almost unnoticed.

Smiling, Leon had to chuckle. He was having a wonderful time.

The second, final red dot blinked out behind him just before the exit to the maze came into view. Once he sped out into the open (save for a sharp, sharp immediate left turn), Leon glanced back. Cloud was right behind him.

Smiling.

"Race you!" Leon yelled as he dropped back just enough that he knew Cloud could hear him. He was going to have to ask Tron to program in some sort of headset communication for future co-op races.

"And them!" Cloud replied, pointing quickly at his own radar screen.

Sure enough, red dots filled it again.

Something had to have happened to Rikku. They had to get to the end of the race. They had to get out of the computer.

"Tron!" Leon yelled.

"I cannot abort the program with you inside," Leon heard in response. At least Tron was watching and likely trying to do what he could. "You are within three kilometers of the end of the track."

Leon jammed on the brakes, letting the enemy riders wash around him before he began plowing them down. Just before they got to Cloud who was banging away at his control panel.

Three kilometers.

Even if he'd programmed his lightcycle for speed over control, Leon knew he was allowed a little slack on the rule. He started zigzagging through the AI enemies just as Cloud managed to spin around and begin another assault. Together they began to make progress.

Watching each others' backs.

"Tron!" Leon yelled again once he saw the finish line appear on his radar.

"Ready."

Looking over to where Cloud had pulled beside him, Leon could still see red dots swarming his radar, but all back far enough that they were in the clear.

His health-bar was blinking; barely a visible sliver compared to what it had been in the beginning.

As they passed over the neon on the ground, the radar cleared. Leon hit the brakes for one last time, not at all surprised as he didn't even get the chance to bring his lightcycle to a proper stop before being forced out of the virtual and back into reality.

Cloud was coughing, beside him, almost startled as he dropped to his knees on the metal floor.

"I didn't do it!" Rikku cried as she ran towards Leon, still human-sized. "I programmed it all right, I know I did, and then..."

"She's telling the truth," Cloud managed to say. "It's my fault. Someone wants my attention."

"What?" Leon asked as he offered Cloud a hand up, off the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Cloud replied before half-pulling Leon down to his level as he stood. "Just a little irritated that someone dared aim a spell in my direction."

His blue eyes narrowed, scanning the room once.

"Where?" Rikku asked before quickly reverting to her faerie form. "Oh..."

"Here --" Cloud lunged across the room, closing a hand around something that only he could sense.

"Wings!" came a low, pained cry. Shimmering into view was a silver-haired faerie wearing all black, dangling by black-feathered wings that were pinched tightly between Cloud's fingers and thumb.

"Yazoo, you shouldn't be here," Cloud said coolly.

"Hurts..." Yazoo replied, struggling.

"That's the point," Cloud stated, holding Yazoo up to his eye level. "I'll assume my services are needed. But what's with the violence? I have a phone."

Leon had always wanted to describe the sound of the faerie-human transformation as a 'poof' or 'bamf' or some other noise grabbed from a drawn children's book - it was the closest to what his very human ears heard.

So with a poof (or bamf, depending), Cloud was knocked to the floor, grasping at nothing as Yazoo lay on top of him. Silver hair poured over them both as Yazoo kicked his legs to the sides, straddling Cloud in a nearly indecent pose.

"As if Mother would let us give up the old ways," Yazoo said, his face just inches from Cloud's as he leaned over and put a hand on either side of Cloud's head. "Besides, I like a little violence."

Cloud grabbed a handful of that silver hair and yanked, hard. Yazoo cried out and slid to the side, swinging a fist that Cloud easily caught before reversing their positions.

"Well let me know when you've had enough," Cloud deadpanned. "Besides, all you had to do was ask."

Leon realized he'd been standing there, arms crossed, with Rikku at his side. He knew Cloud well enough that stepping in hadn't been necessary.

"Trickery is so much more fun," Yazoo noted with a pout as Cloud let him up. "I'm still partial to when we shoved you into Hades' service. That was so entertaining to watch..."

Either Cloud was ignoring the comment or plotting further violence for a later time, as he didn't respond other than to hold up a hand as a half-wave before heading towards the door.

"Another time, Leon," Cloud said. "Get some sleep."

Behind him, Yazoo only smiled as he tossed his hair. And with an equally indescribable poof, he transformed back into his regular size and zipped to Cloud's side.

"That family is so messed up," Rikku commented before flying over to sit on the computer console.

Leon yawned. He'd actually forgotten about the previous night until Cloud had mentioned it. But between that and the virtual battle for his life inside the computer, the idea of an eight-hour late-morning nap did sound rather nice.

"You think?" Leon replied. "That was... Sephiroth's brother, right?"

"Half-brother," Rikku corrected. "But yeah. Can't tell ya which half, either. I don't know."

"Does it matter?" Leon questioned.

"Depends on the errand Cloud's going on," Rikku said before stretching. "So, about my fee..."

Leon knew there was no negotiating out of that little detail, so he dug into his pockets for the little gem chips that Yuffie had given him the day before in exchange for storing yet another half-dozen boxes in his basement.

And then, almost happily, he headed towards the upper-levels of the castle to catch a quick nap before heading home.

The problem, Leon realized when he opened his eyes to note that the mid-morning sun had drifted to peer in the high guest-room window as the late-afternoon sun, was that near-exhaustion did not lead to quick naps.

Crawling off the too-soft bed to grab his jacket, Leon was surprised to see Riku dozing in an easy-chair on the other side of the room.

"Riku?" he questioned softly, trying to tread softly for no reason he could think of once he thought twice about it - he was attempting to wake Riku up, after all, so there was no need to be overly quiet.

He almost missed the book Riku was half-clutching in slumber. Carefully he reached to put it on the floor, still opened to the page Riku had been reading.

"Hey..."

Aqua eyes finally met his, sleep-blurred and almost confused.

"You're up..."

"How'd you find me?" Leon asked as Riku yawned and stretched.

"Had a little help," Riku admitted. "You left in the middle of the night..."

"One of the hydroelectric generators..."

"I know," Riku interrupted as he stood and reached to wrap his arms around Leon for a few seconds. "I went to work and Cid told me... let me leave early, but you hadn't gone home."

"Cloud and I had already planned to play with the lightcycle program," Leon admitted, leaving most of the events of the morning out. "I didn't think I'd actually end up sleeping for more than an hour."

Riku started laughing. "Sounds like Sora... gonna take a little nap on the beach and five hours later needing to be rescued from high tide."

Leon frowned for a moment before picturing the scene and finally breaking a smile. That was Sora, after all. And he wasn't competing with that memory, or any of Riku's memories. That much he knew. That much...

"One of Sephiroth's brothers stopped by as well to send Cloud on an errand," Leon said as lightly as he could. "Are you sure you aren't related to that family?"

"I have the same color hair as Aunt Freya," Riku replied. "I'm just as likely to have her blood as faerie blood, thanks. Don't think that Maleficent didn't check around for missing relatives the first time I dealt with her. She kept commenting that I looked like her sisters' children, just like Cloud kept telling me that I..."

"Riku?"

Riku turned and walked over to the window. Pushing the curtains aside to look into the light, he sighed.

"There wasn't anything to it," he said. "I should have explained that weeks ago - watching you get all uncomfortable when Cloud would touch me. Nothing. Just two damned men wanting to feed on the darkness we could get from one another."

"You don't have to tell me," Leon said. Another lie. So much to get past but Leon didn't want to admit that deep down, he wanted to know.

"Isn't that really it?" Riku commented. "We fought and fucked and walked off in our own directions towards what we wanted - really wanted. His worked out for him. Mine..."

Awkward silence took over for a minute. Leon swallowed hard.

"Well," Riku continued, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret things. You wanted stupid things when you were younger, right?"

Leon didn't reply - most of his youthful desires had been aimed at material possessions that also hadn't been quite as fulfilling once he'd finally gotten them. His battle with the darkness that took his home hadn't been quite so personal.

Another minute passed. He nodded.

"But how did you find me?" Leon walked over to the window and rested a hand on Riku's shoulder.

"The guy downstairs washing the windows told me," Riku replied. "Said you'd gone in but not left. After that, I just started checking rooms."

Fairly sure that Riku was leaving as much out of his story as he'd left from his own, Leon just nodded. He couldn't remember any maintenance cards being filled out for washing the windows on the castle, either, though Cid could have added that just to give someone a job for a day.

"You could have slept on the bed, too," Leon said. "It's far too soft, but..."

"Didn't want to wake you up," Riku interrupted. "Cid told me all about the fire before he decided to kick his feet up and take a nap once his team had checked in."

"Probably left a cigarette burning, too," Leon stated. Riku's answering chuckle was enough. He'd worked alongside Cid for so long that nothing the man did surprised him, whether it was an astounding fit of genius or a tirade of cussing.

Almost without thinking, Leon slid his hand lower, along the soft fabric of Riku's dark shirt, to rest just above the waist of Riku's pants.

"Have any idea what Yuffie is doing with six cases of books?" Riku finally asked. "Six more cases of books. She was dragging them down into your basement when I got home."

"Maybe they're Aerith's," Leon suggested. Yuffie, for the most part, used books to prop furniture level.

"I was going to ask, but she was too busy trying to explain that your basement was her basement and I shouldn't get upset," Riku continued.

Leon slid his hand lower, to where he could just push up Riku's shirt enough to find skin.

"For the time being, my basement is her basement," Leon confirmed.

"So you and Cloud got to play with the creation program, right?" Riku asked suddenly, pulling away and walking back towards the bed. "How was it?"

"There are just a few little bugs to be worked out," Leon admitted, almost wanting to laugh. Now that he wasn't in virtual mortal peril, the thought of testing their cycles in a round of User-Must-Die mode was quite humorous.

"Can I try?" Riku asked quickly before pausing. "But not today. I felt weird for hours after those races we did. Wouldn't want you to go through that twice."

"Weird?" Leon asked. He had felt more heavy than anything, at first, but even that hadn't been particularly troubling.

"Like I was in the wrong skin," Riku explained. "Went away, though."

"You didn't mention that."

Riku shrugged before glancing quickly at the bed. "Let's go home."

Home?

Leon nodded.

Other than a few comments about the lightcycle program, they walked in relative silence. No one, Leon noted afterward, had been washing the castle windows.

The house was dark and Yuffie was nowhere to be seen when the arrived home.

"Dinner?" Riku asked as he pulled his boots off.

And then Leon remembered a very important little fact that he'd quite nearly tucked away so far in the recesses of his brain that it had nearly been forgotten - Riku had been forced into the wrong skin, another body that wasn't his...

"Mind if I take a shower first?" Leon asked in response. Warm water and a change of clothing sounded a bit more appealing than food, especially if Riku was the one cooking.

"Go ahead," Riku said quickly. "I was just going to make sandwiches. Aerith brought over a ton of food again, along with fresh bread. You didn't notice last night?"

Shaking his head, Leon kicked off his own boots and headed towards his bedroom to get something to change into. Up until Riku had moved in, his fridge had generally been a last resort when all of the restaurants were closed. Certainly he couldn't imagine a habit that involved opening it randomly to see what had been left there.

Just as he'd peeled off his clothing, Leon heard the door close.

"What happened to dinner?" Leon asked as he turned to see Riku blocking the doorknob.

"You always know when to stop asking questions," Riku said softly. "Thanks."

Except, Leon knew, he more than made up for that with the surveillance contract he had with Paine. Trying not to feel guilty, Leon just nodded.

"But I should tell you..."

"Tell me?"

"Tomorrow," Riku said quickly. "After we both get home. It can wait."

Curious but willing to allow one more secret, Leon walked over to Riku, reaching behind him for the doorknob.

Riku grabbed Leon's wrist and held it, shaking his head.

"I almost woke you up earlier," Riku admitted. "I wanted to. Really."

Leon took a step back. Riku did not let go.

A moment later, Riku's mouth was against his, not so much kissing him as using the whole of his body to back Leon to the bed and onto it, the crush of their lips together and the connection between their tongues almost more of a side-effect.

Pulling at Riku's clothing, Leon found skin quickly in the same way he had before. He pushed Riku's shirt up, one hand on Riku's back and the other on his chest to find sensitive nipples as Riku moaned into the not-quite-kiss.

Tangled, and with feet dangling off the unmade bed, they stayed clinging to one another after the pulled their mouths apart.

"Take your clothes off," Leon finally said as he tried to scoot properly onto the bed.

"Not romantic," Riku commented as he rocked onto his knees to pull off his shirt. "But probably correct."

Leon chuckled as he watched Riku continue to strip. Obviously Cid had found Riku a job where he got a little sunshine, as his skin had gotten noticeably darker during the last few days. That or Riku had taken to lounging on the roof.

"You're laughing."

"I'm not laughing," Leon replied before reaching to help pull away Riku's pants and throw them over towards his own pile of clothing. "I just wasn't expecting to end up back in bed so quickly."

Riku smirked before pushing Leon back down onto the wrinkled sheets.

Bodies together - skin against skin - Leon couldn't resist pressing upwards a bit. He needed friction for the erection he'd been trying to ignore in favor of touching Riku's body.

"Roll over," Leon whispered before licking Riku's ear. Awkwardly, they managed; leaving Leon sprawled over Riku's body for a few seconds before he sat up and slid down enough to let his erection settle along-side Riku's.

Slowly he leaned down again, kissing Riku's neck softly in trails - making sure his mouth was finding every sensitive spot.

"Leon..." Riku stammered, hands clinging at Leon's back. "What...?"

Words wouldn't do. After all, no matter what underhanded things he was still up to, Riku had revealed a fairly large part of his insecurities, even if he hadn't quite realized what he was doing. And, at least in the bedroom, he was still within the realm of fair play.

"Here," Leon whispered as he thrust a hand up under the pillows to find the dwindling tube of lubricant that had proved more useful within arms-reach than tucked in his nightstand. Grabbing it, he transferred it to Riku's grasp a few seconds later.

"But..."

"Warm it up," Leon said before sliding his body down a bit to lick nipples still hard from when his fingers had been teasing them.

Riku moaned as Leon continued working downward over the muscle of his stomach before reaching his end-goal. After licking away the pre-come gathered at the tip of Riku's erection, Leon slid to the side.

"Tease," Riku murmured, a slight smile on his face anyway as he uncapped the tube he still clutched. "Might make you regret that."

More than once, Leon had debated the merits of a bigger bed. With his head at the foot of the bed, hands wandering along the edge for something to grab as Riku spread his legs, it seemed like a good idea. But something that he'd never get around to.

He closed his eyes as Riku traced his entrance with a pair of fingers, pressing just a little roughly. But the lubricant helped and before Leon could finish wincing, a moan had replaced any sound he would have made.

"More?" Riku asked as he spread his fingers apart before pushing them further into Leon's body. "Wouldn't be fair to let you come..."

Yet even as he spoke, he pulled his fingertips across the spot that made Leon cry out. Grabbing at the edge of the bed, Leon pushed against those fingers, wanting more.

"No..." Riku said as he pulled back a bit but not fully out. "Not yet."

"Yeah," Leon whispered as he echoed Riku's motion, surprising Riku as he pulled free and pointed at the bed. "Lay down."

"Leon?"

Straddling Riku again, Leon grabbed the lubricant from where Riku had dropped it on the bed. Quickly he coated Riku's erection before positioning himself with the tip against his entrance.

"Like this..." Slowly Leon slid down, letting his body give as he took Riku deeper inside.

Riku had his eyes closed, lips parted as though he was the one being fucked - unless he was. Leon smirked for a second. He wasn't sure, exactly, if he'd managed to snag a bit of power away even if it was still his body being taken in the end.

Finally settled with the entire length of Riku's arousal inside of his body, Leon paused, adjusting, before reaching to stroke his own erection a few times to relieve some of the ache that had built.

He'd have no problem coming - not in that position. Riku could just enjoy. Riku could watch - if Riku would open his eyes.

Moving a bit, just enough to slide his body an inch or two, Leon kept touching himself. Finally, Riku opened his eyes, watching as if absolutely transfixed for a few moments before finally thrusting up just a bit.

Leon nodded, knowing that he had to stop teasing both Riku and himself. Riku thrust up, reaching to guide him as he rose and fell to meet the motions of Riku's body. He leaned back a bit, closing his own eyes again as he let Riku's erection penetrate him fully thrust after thrust, angled just right to press at the spot that made him need to reach and give his own erection a few almost-forced strokes before he gave over to the absolute need to come.

Riku was crying Leon's name, grabbing at him and smearing semen over them both in an attempt to share in his orgasm before moving his hands back to Leon's hips to instead focus on careening towards his own.

Words to tell Riku that he was being too rough caught on Leon's lips as he grabbed back at the bed, riding out the last of Riku's harsh thrusts as he watched Riku's body tense and come.

Aqua eyes... questioning.

Leon wasn't surprised when he was back underneath Riku's weight again, being kissed and touched and generally thanked for something he didn't think he ever needed to be thanked for.

The sun was just dipping behind their own roof, no longer casting the long shadow of the house across the alley when Riku finally sat up.

"Should make sandwiches," he said after a minute.

"Should shower," Leon replied. If he hadn't needed one before...

"And I should show you..." Riku trailed off, his eyes wide. "That book! We left it in the castle!"

"Book?" Leon asked before remembering. Riku had been reading a book, and he'd gently set it beside the chair...

"I had a book," Riku said softly. "I gotta go get it. I'll be back."

Before Leon had untangled himself from the blankets to try to follow after Riku, he heard the front door slamming.

Really, Riku didn't need any help getting a book, anyway. The shower sounded so much better.

And perhaps he'd peek in the fridge after all.

Once clean, and just about to do just that, Leon had his hand on the fridge handle when the front door banged open.

"Riku?" he called.

"No, but we have your information," a voice replied.

Leon was quite glad he'd gotten dressed again as he stepped into the main room.

"Too dramatic," came from beside him. He looked over to see Paine sitting calmly on an end, table, her legs dangling off and swinging.

"What do you mean 'too dramatic'?" the man asked as he closed the door and kicked his boots once on the mat. "This is dramatic information."

"Leon, this is Zack," Paine said coldly. "Another student of my instructor."

"You're..." Leon had been seeing the man for days, if only for seconds at a time.

For once, Leon decided, the transformation was definitely a 'bamf'.

"A faerie," Zack said, flitting on transparent wings to stand on the back of a chair.

"He makes up for his lack of stealth," Paine said flatly, "in other ways. I just don't know what they are."

"So what's this 'dramatic' information?" Leon asked. Riku was likely on his way back from the castle already and he was half-afraid that Zack and Paine would still be bickering when he returned.

"We know Riku's secret," Zack said just as the door swung open.

"Of course you do," Riku said as he stepped into the house. He was breathing heavily, clutching the worn, thick book to his chest. "But even if you do, it's mine to tell. Leon..."

There was no room to lie.

"You're the one who meets with the witch," Leon replied.

"She keeps thinking that I'll break," Riku said, his eyes narrow. "She keeps hoping that I'll sell someone out. She even asked about you, because it has to be someone I'm close to."

"Sell someone out...?"

"I lied to you, before," Riku said. He was still gasping for breath as if he'd run the entire distance to the castle and back. "When I said we didn't have a deal. Because I guess you'd call it a deal, in the end."

"A deal..." Paine was on her feet.

"She came to put a curse on Kairi. But I took the curse instead. And came here with Maleficent so she could make sure that it had worked," Riku said. "She keeps asking if I'll betray my friends..."

Riku dropped to his hands and knees, one hand still clutching the book and the other pounding at the carpet like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Don't you get it?" he asked, looking up. "Don't you think I've wanted to tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Leon asked as he knelt down. "The curse? What is it?"

"The curse that I took to save Kairi's life," Riku said. "A curse that cannot be broken, only passed along. That..."

"No." Paine's voice sounded almost muted.

"What?" Zack asked. "You don't mean..."

"So that Kairi will live, so that she and Sora can be happy," Riku began, "I'll die on my twenty-first birthday."


	5. Heroism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon makes a mistake. Riku reacts badly. Aerith makes dinner. Cura! Cura! Cura!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Heroism.

"What?" It took Leon a moment to realize that his voice had broken the heavy silence.

"She used that one?" Zack looked over to Paine.

"Normally she uses something slightly less caustic," Paine commented. "She must have found out that we can counter the lightweight stuff."

"But..."

"I think you're right." Paine nodded, turning to look away. "You've been deceived all along, Riku. I'll have to check with Yuna, but if Zack is right..."

"What?" Riku asked angrily from the floor. "I'm still right here after all. You can just tell me."

"Angeal loved to make us memorize useless stuff about hardcore spells," Zack began. "Bastard is half-dark faerie, after all, but... What you're describing - that spell has to be started days in advance. With a set target."

Silence settled over the four again.

"You..."

Riku chuckled. "It's fitting. I'm no hero."

"That spell is a tight binding," Paine muttered. "To silence traitors and spread to their conspirators."

"That's why she's trying to trick you into passing the curse along," Leon surmised. "That's just how it works."

"Yes," Paine agreed, crossing her arms. "And since that is all I was here for, my partner and I will be going."

"But..." Zack glanced to where Riku sat, his body shaking either in silent laughter or tears.

"You'll be paid," Leon said softly. "Thank you."

"Paine, we can't just-" Before Zack could finish speaking, Paine had vanished into a sparkling of dust in the afternoon sun. "Ah."

And he was gone as well.

"Riku?" Leon asked a moment later as he reached over to brush Riku's hair from his face. He was still just inside the wide-open door, more on his knees than his hands though.

"Why did I think I was finally doing something good?" Riku asked suddenly, pounding a fist into the floorboards and then again until his knuckles split and blood stained the light wood. "Why?"

"Don't..." Leon grabbed for Riku, trying to wrap his arms around Riku to hold him. Even if he couldn't offer comfort, even if he could just keep Riku from hurting himself more...

"And you paid them to watch me!" Riku screamed as he threw Leon off and against the wall. Both in size and strength, Leon was at a loss when compared to Riku. And with Riku upset... Leon stayed against the wall.

He would have to weather the storm.

"Why?" Riku asked, his voice low as he stood to look down at Leon. His eyes were bright, unworldly as he glared downward. "I thought you... I thought we... What we've been doing - has that been nothing? Am I just a cheap fuck to you?"

Leon couldn't find words to defend himself. All he wanted was the right thing to say. But the pain spreading through his chest was distracting him. Something had to be broken.

"Don't you dare send them to look for me," Riku spat as he abruptly turned and stalked off towards the hallway to their bedrooms.

Things were spinning in front of Leon's eyes. He tried to call out Riku's name but he barely managed a whisper.

And he was so very tired.

* * *

Two voices who couldn't manage harmony pulled him back into a foggy form of alertness seconds before he actually woke up. Yuffie was dancing just inside the kitchen door, her shoes squeaking on the linoleum as she chirped along to the song on the radio - the same song that Aerith was sweetly cooing.

Either way, it just didn't work.

Leon tried to sit up, but didn't get far before the nagging pain in his chest caught up with him and he flopped back onto the sofa.

Sofa?

"Leon?" Yuffie popped into the main room. "You up?"

"Yeah," Leon wheezed. "Did you drop me or help me?"

"Six of one, half-dozen of the other," Yuffie replied as she hopped up to sit on the back of the sofa and look down at Leon. "What happened? Aerith and I stopped by and your door was wide open with you out cold by the wall."

Well, that cleared that up. It was all real. Riku...

"Riku's gone," Leon said. He managed to sit up, ignoring the pain for a moment.

"What?"

"Leon, do you need another Cura?" Aerith asked as she back-stepped and peered through the doorway. "I didn't want to over-do it."

"Please," Leon replied. "I think I broke something."

"You?" Yuffie asked, her eyes narrowing. "Or him?"

"What?" Aerith asked. "Leon, what happened to you?"

"Are you cooking something?" Leon questioned in response.

Aerith nodded, gesturing to the apron she wore over her usual dress. "Well, yes. And Yuffie hid the salt, so it might be..."

"Edible," Yuffie interrupted. "You can thank me later."

Leon wheezed, trying not to laugh. It hurt too much to laugh.

"Cura!" Aerith exclaimed, reminding herself exactly what she'd been doing five seconds before. "Sorry!"

She cast the spell quickly, and Leon could feel the magic tracing through his body and taking the pain away as things healed thousands of times faster than normal.

"Thank you," Leon said. He glanced out the window. The sun had long since set. "Isn't it late?"

"Not that late," Yuffie replied. "Besides, I've been in and out all day putting books in the basement. Hope you don't mind, because you're in no shape to move them."

Rolling his eyes, Leon wanted to say that he knew. That he knew far too much about far too many things. And his desire to know things obviously wasn't a good thing. It had cost him something good, hadn't it?

"Dinner should be ready," Aerith said slowly. "So you will tell us?"

"Yes," Leon replied. "I'll tell you."

"All right!" Yuffie jumped down from the sofa, her feet hitting the ground only once more before she was in the kitchen. "Oh, and I hid the pepper, too... But we might need that."

Leon shook his head. He wanted to go look for Riku but he knew that with any sort of head start, if Riku didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found.

Instead he stood and stretched, debating asking Aerith for one more little spell, and headed for the kitchen. After dinner - that would be a good time. So he could sleep.

"You two know most of the town-faeries, don't you?" Leon asked as he took a seat at the table. With just two chairs in the kitchen, Yuffie had hopped up onto the counter beside the sink.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "Saw Zack washing the windows at the castle today, actually. Kinda weird, even for him."

"He's quirky," Aerith said quickly. "But an utter sweetheart deep down. Sometimes I catch him, small-sized, sleeping in the flowerbeds behind my house in the mid-afternoon."

Probably hiding from Paine, Leon thought. But that did clear up Riku's cryptic comment from earlier. Zack had been the one to point Riku in the direction of the castle's guest rooms.

"So what does this have to do with Riku?" Yuffie asked before forking a carrot and examining it.

"When Riku first arrived here, I asked them - paid them - to keep an eye on him," Leon admitted. "I knew he was still meeting with Maleficent; I just didn't know why."

"So he's..."

"Cursed," Leon finished. "Cursed to die in a few months."

"But haven't the light faeries figured out how to take care of most of that?" Aerith asked as she pushed her food around her plate nervously. "I mean..."

"Not this one." Leon felt like doing the same. He just wasn't hungry. "This curse was crafted just for him. And what's worse is that Maleficent had been telling him that he could pass it along to someone - spare his life for theirs. But that isn't possible. They can only become cursed too, at his say-so."

"So now that he knows that, he could curse all of us?" Yuffie asked. "That's..."

A possibility that Leon hadn't even considered.

"I don't know if it's that simple," Leon replied. "But I know he thought he was taking the curse to save Kairi's life so that she and Sora could be happy."

"But you said the curse was meant for him anyway," Aerith commented.

"So he only fell into a trap," Yuffie finished. "That sucks. So... wait, that's only half the story."

"Well, Riku came back while Zack and Paine were still here, and when they left, Riku just sort of... lost it," Leon said. "He was punching the floor. I tried to stop him, but he just threw me like I was a toy. He yelled a bit and stormed off to get his things."

"And you passed out," Yuffie surmised. "How macho."

"What was I supposed to say?" Leon asked as he gave one of his own carrots a shove. "Everything he said was true. I did suspect him of being up to something and..."

"You've got to go after him," Aerith said. "Now."

"Now?"

"It'd be better than eating," Yuffie interjected as she set her plate beside her and slid down off the counter. "So where do we start?"

"A note." Aerith stood up and reached to untie her apron. "Maybe he left a note. We were too busy with Leon to even look."

"And we didn't know he was gone," Yuffie admitted. "Remember, I said that we'd have some explaining to do when Riku got home. Because he came home from work early, changed, looked through some of my books with me, and then asked to borrow one before heading off to find Leon..."

"He had a book," Leon interrupted. "We left it in the castle and he ran all the way back to get it. But I didn't see what it was."

"Old," Yuffie said. "And dusty. Just like the rest of 'em. Most of that box... history. Military stuff. Bet you'd like some of 'em."

"That doesn't help." Leon pushed his own plate away and headed back towards the main room.

"I'll check his room," Aerith said softly. "Oh, Leon, this just isn't good."

"I know." But without any clue where Riku would go, he couldn't help feeling like he'd be looking for a needle in a haystack in a field of haystacks.

"I'll call Cid," Yuffie quickly added as she grabbed for Leon's phone. "He'd be one of the first places Riku would go, right?"

"Probably," Leon said. "And... maybe Cloud?"

"Gotcha!" Yuffie gave Leon a thumbs-up before turning her attention to the old rotary dial phone that Leon had never bothered to replace.

Turning, Leon glanced around the main room for any signs of a note. The blood near the door had turned a nasty shade of brown and likely sunk into the wood.

He made a mental note that no matter how things turned out, he'd have to invest in a rug to cover that.

"Nope," Yuffie said suddenly, hanging up the phone. "Cid hasn't seen him."

Leon snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that he was just standing around when he should be the one panicking. He had to panic, after all. Something would be wrong if he didn't. Yet for some reason, he couldn't help thinking that either Riku would come back or he wouldn't and no amount of searching or pleading would change that.

"He took plenty of clean underwear," Aerith announced as she stepped back into the main room. "But no note."

"I see nothing," Leon threw in, quickly scanning the room.

"Cloud's not answering." Yuffie set the receiver down. "But he might just be busy... um, well, busy."

"One of Sephiroth's brothers grabbed him earlier," Leon said firmly. "He's probably stuck helping with one of their schemes."

"Are they in on this?" Aerith asked. "On Riku... hurting him?"

"I don't think so," Leon answered. "Maleficent is extreme, even for a dark faerie. Cloud told me that Lucrecia and Jenova prefer more storybook forms of trickery and seduction, not just flat-out cruelty."

"Cloud..." Aerith sighed. "Do all boys want to grow up to be heroes?"

"Yes," Leon said. "They do. And most of them never realize there's a difference between bedtime stories and real, everyday heroism."

There was a pause. Yuffie rubbed one of her feet against the floor.

"We're heroes, right?"

"Of course," Aerith replied. "You knew that. Even Cloud knows that he's a hero, somewhere inside."

"Yeah." Leon wanted to add Riku's name to the list but couldn't find his voice. Not as he searched through his memories of conversations with Sora, mentioning the things Riku had been through. "He's probably in the castle."

"Cloud?" Aerith asked.

"No, Riku," Yuffie corrected. "But why would he go to a place where he only has bad memories?"

"What would Cloud do?" Aerith asked. "He'd crawl into his misery and wrap it around himself like a blanket. He'd hide in it. In darkness."

"But Riku isn't Cloud."

"I can only hope he's stronger," Leon commented as he glanced around for his jacket. "But... should I go? I'm probably the last person he wants to see."

Aerith frowned. "What if it was Cloud? Would you go?"

In a heartbeat. Cloud was his... best friend. And he and Riku were... Somewhere between 'fucking' and 'lovers'. There wasn't a word - just a feeling.

"Tomorrow," Leon said. "He just found out that he's dying for absolutely no good reason."

"Promise?" Yuffie asked. "Promise you'll go get him tomorrow? Because if not, you're going to have to help me move books."

"What are you doing with all the books, anyway?" Finally, the question everyone had thought about but not asked. Aerith looked ready to frown at the answer, almost before she'd finished the question.

Yuffie shrugged. "I don't know."

Leon and Aerith looked at one another and winced.

"I'll pack up the leftovers," Aerith said quickly.

"I'll do the dishes," Yuffie added.

"And you rest," Aerith ordered. "We'll all stay here tonight. Just in case Riku comes back and needs a Cura of his own."

Nodding, Leon headed back down the hallway to grab a pair of extra blankets for the women.

He hoped that giving Riku a little time to cool down was the right thing, but he just didn't know.

He couldn't help feeling like he didn't know much of anything.

Yet somehow he managed to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep that lasted until morning.

"Nothing," Aerith said when Leon made his way to the kitchen. "But you knew that. I would have sent him straight in to see you."

"I know," Leon answered. Breakfast didn't sound appealing. His ribs ached.

"I already called Cid and told him a little more about what happened," Yuffie commented from the passage between the kitchen and basement stairs. "He told you to take all the fucking time you need."

"Yuffie!"

"That's what he said!" Yuffie shot back at Aerith. "I'm not ten and you are so not washing my mouth out with soap ever again!"

Leon left them to bicker. He grabbed his jacket from the rack (which isn't where he'd left it, he was sure) and headed off into the brisk morning.

Wind whipped down between the houses, strong enough that Leon grabbed at his jacket to quickly zip it to keep it from flapping. His hair danced in front of his eyes. Looking to the north, it was going to rain. Hard.

The first drops were falling as Leon ran into the lower door of the castle, entering the passcode without even looking at the buttons. Obviously Riku had a way of getting past that little bit of security... the keyblade?

If Riku was even in the castle, that was.

Heading upwards through the tangle of stairs and lifts, Leon kept looking around for any sign that anyone had been through lately. For the most part, plans to actually do something with the castle kept getting stalled until the rest of the work was finished. And with that nearly finished, Leon had been trying to come up with any sort of use for the massive building.

A spot on the floor caught his eye as he climbed off the third or fourth lift he'd taken. Bending down, Leon confirmed his suspicion - blood.

"Riku," Leon said softly as he glanced around. There were plenty of bedrooms on that floor, not a one of them much different from the others, to the best of his knowledge.

A few steps down the hallway, and Leon paused. Voices.

"Don't you want me to take care of you?"

Leon didn't recognize the voice at all, but he didn't like the sound of it. Creeping closer, one of the doors was cracked open enough to peer into.

"Ah... don't... Leave me alone..."

Riku's voice made something inside him snap. Leon kicked the door open, storming in only to see Riku sprawled on a double-bed with his injured hand being carefully held by another silver-haired boy who looked far too much like Riku for his own good. He'd paused with his tongue just inches from the wound on Riku's hand, apparently licking away the blood.

"You..." Riku's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because you have a room," Leon said each word carefully. "It's in my house. And Yuffie needs someone to help her move books. Aerith's waiting to take care of you hand, too."

"We were just talking," the mystery boy said with a frown as he let Riku's hand drop and shifted from sitting on his legs to crawl the length of Riku's body to sit and play with silver hair. "He might just decide to come live with me."

"And who are you?" Leon questioned, almost unsurprised at the immediate bamf.

Of course. Another one of them.

"Kadaj Crescent," the faerie said, bowing midair as he fluttered on glistening silvery transparent wings. "And you're Squall Leonhart. I've seen you plenty of times. You look good on your back."

Leon frowned. Of all the things that didn't need to be brought up, the implication that he'd been seen with Sephiroth was near the top of the list.

"Leon?" Riku asked, glancing between both men. "I... I hurt you."

"Nothing three Cura spells hasn't dulled to an ache," Leon admitted as he took a step closer.

"But he was spying on you," Kadaj cooed, shifting back into his human-size and crawling on top of Riku. "You told me how angry you were with him and that you just didn't know what to do with yourself because you're... dying."

"I... I didn't want to ever hurt anyone again." Riku shook his head and held up his bloodied hand. "Or myself."

"I can't tell you how I would have reacted," Leon said. Another step towards Riku and Kadaj. "I might have done the same thing. You have every right to be mad at me. And..."

He paused. But he had to say it. Riku still had his free will, after all.

"If you tell me to go, I'll leave."

"Stay," Riku commanded before he turned to look up at Kadaj, who was eyeing him as though he could be devoured. "And you, Kadaj, are much too pushy. But I think I get you. I really do. It was good to talk to you, but you can go back to whatever you were lurking around here doing before you smelled blood."

Kadaj frowned. "I won't give up so easily."

"I'll tell Sephiroth on you."

Pouting, Kadaj backed off and transformed again, flitting down to sit on one of the flat footboard posts.

"There'll be a next time," he promised, pushing his hair back to show bright green eyes for just a second before he vanished.

"Cura," Leon noted, pointing at Riku's hand. "And you owe me a nice throw rug for my floor, too."

"No sympathy?" Riku asked as he glanced upward. Either he was too exhausted to muster the sarcasm that his statement needed or he'd finally realized that he did have another option.

"Well," Leon tried, "I'm sorry you're dying, but I can't fix that at the moment. If you come home with me, we can at least take care of your hand."

"I'm an idiot," Riku said, shaking his head.

"So am I," Leon said. "I figured it out, on the way here. You were going to tell me, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Lot of good that did, though."

"And you aren't upset about the dying part, are you?" Obviously Riku had known about that from the beginning. He had to have accepted it already.

"Nope," Riku said. "I just... I thought I'd finally done something good. That I'd managed to be a hero."

"One action doesn't make a hero. It just makes someone who was in the right place to do the right thing," Leon said as he took the last step to the bed and reached for Riku's unharmed hand. "A lifetime makes a hero. It's how you live."

"How I live?" Riku seemed to mull that over for a few seconds before he squeezed Leon's hand and let go. Getting to his feet, he circled to the end of the bed to grab his bag of belongings.

"And besides, Sora and Kairi will never know," Leon said. "You'll always be the greatest of heroes to them."

Riku was already in the hallway, out of hearing range, as Leon took one last look around the room Riku had been hiding in.

"Though I think you already were."

He caught up to Riku at the lift, reaching to trigger the crystal just as Riku did the same. Without thinking, Leon pulled his hand away.

"I..."

"I really did hurt you," Riku said softly as he called the lift.

"And then I had to eat Aerith's cooking," Leon added when the lift appeared. "Sadly, she's only mastered desserts."

"I'll buy you dinner." Riku shuffled onto the lift and dropped his bag from his shoulder before leaning out over the edge of the lift, past where soft sparkling trails of particles tried to reign him in. "He started to teach me, one day, how these things worked."

"Huh?" Of all the things Riku could say - that he'd pull up a memory like that.

"Ansem, well, not Ansem, but... he was 'Ansem' to me," Riku replied from where he had his head pushed between particle threads. "Other than the darkness and the manipulation and the... well, I have to admit that the gratuitous mutual abuse of my body was just that, at first..."

Riku frowned as he twisted around and paced to the other side of the lift.

"Anyway, he was brilliant. I really thought he knew everything. And that he was right.

"Sometimes when he was waiting for someone to report back, he'd just tell me things like how the lifts worked and how the air bubbles in the moat form." Riku chuckled. "I'd forgotten. Too much dwelling on the bad."

"That was your room?" Leon asked a moment later.

"Maleficent gave it to me. When she controlled this castle, before hers returned... I never noticed there were other rooms just like it. To me, then, it was special," Riku admitted. He paused. "Some other subject?"

"Sure." The lift came to a gentle stop near the lowest level of the castle. Leon blinked. He'd had to transfer several times to go up - obviously however Riku manipulated it had changed its course.

"What color rug would you like? I'm sure I can find something in... paisley?" Riku grabbed his bag and took the lead again.

"He was licking you," Leon managed. His brain had finally caught up to him.

"Ah, and apparently he watched Sephiroth fuck you," Riku commented. At least he was smiling a bit. Leon thought he was smiling a bit.

Leon hoped they were both smiling a bit.

"Are you sure you aren't related?"

"Dreaming of twins? Riku shot back.

"Didn't you?" Leon retorted. They were almost outside.

"Asking yourself that?" Riku pushed the final door open and stepped out into the pouring rain.

Leon chuckled as Riku scrambled back inside, shaking soaked hair away from his face.

"Oh, it's raining," Leon deadpanned. "Probably should have mentioned that."

Riku grumbled something that Leon couldn't make out, before pausing to clench his injured hand once before shaking it. Frowning, Leon reached out to touch it gently. Riku winced.

"Broken," Leon surmised. "Means we have to get soaked to the bone, put up with Aerith and Yuffie and whatever version of hot chocolate they brew before eventually throwing them out and settling under a blanket. On the sofa. You can show me that book."

"Book!" Riku exclaimed. "That's right, the book..."

"Yuffie said..."

"Let's go!" Interrupting him, Riku opened the door and ran out into the storm. "C'mon! I'll race you!"

And, without dwelling on just why good fortune had smiled upon him, Leon ran.


	6. Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkwardness ensues and our main characters get a scenery change...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long. Time. Coming. For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Mystery.

"Morning," Yuffie chirped from over the top of one of the old military strategy books she'd dragged up from the basement. Another half-dozen were piled almost neatly on the floor beside the chair she'd staked out, as if she was actually going to get to them in the near future.

"Didn't I lock the door?" Leon questioned. Thankfully, he'd decided to put on pants before leaving his room to start breakfast. Not that frying bacon in the buff was ever a good idea.

"Riku sleeps naked with his window open," Yuffie replied. "And since I've learned this fact, I feel the need to comment... But you need to come over here."

"Can't you say something rude from a distance? I'll start breakfast." Leon glanced at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Nope."

He knew he'd regret it, but Leon walked over to Yuffie's chair anyway.

She hit him with the book.

"I can't believe you two haven't made up yet!" she exclaimed. "It's been two weeks."

Leon rubbed his side where he'd been smacked.

"Thankfully I've healed," he deadpanned. "But... I'll go with him on this. I'm the one in the wrong."

"Did I mention that he was sleeping naked?" Yuffie asked, her nose back in the book.

"You did," Leon said. "Eggs or pancakes?"

"You burn pancakes better than you burn eggs. Unless you've gotten better at, well, burning..."

Leon headed to the kitchen.

When Riku emerged from his room, he was both dressed and talkative. To Yuffie, at least. Leon couldn't quite hear what the pair was discussing, but he did glance into the room once out of curiosity.

He wasn't going to push things. Already he'd proven that he could screw up a good relationship - no, he could repeatedly screw up good relationships because that was all he ever seemed to do when it came to relationships. Well, physical relationships, he decided. That was likely why he got along with Yuffie so well. Never in the years they'd known one another had any non-platonic behavior even wafted between them to corrupt things.

Flipping a pancake into the air (and catching it, something he was getting quite a bit better at after the one day he managed to land more pancakes on the floor than back on his spatula), Leon wondered if he could get out of work in the afternoon. Not likely, since Cid had mentioned some sort of mystery project the day before.

"Mystery projects are never good," Leon mumbled to himself as he made a tidy stack of finished pancakes. Within a few seconds he had the table set and had yelled out to his companions.

Two minutes passed before either showed up, both looking slightly guilty.

He didn't want to know.

A couple of hours and several cases of books to the basement later, Leon and Riku headed to the door at the same time.

"Work?" Riku asked as his hand hesitated over the knob. Yuffie was still in the basement pondering something, but Leon wasn't concerned about her.

"Work," Leon echoed. "Cid has a..."

"Secret project," Riku finished. "You too?"

"Yeah," Leon said with a bit of a smile. He wasn't sure if Cid needed them both for something or if Aerith had coerced (and baked) Cid into scheming some sort of, well, scheme.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Riku admitted as he opened the door. "Not... I mean, um..."

"Whatever Cid has in mind," Leon agreed. He knew what Riku was trying to say, he hoped. "It's never good when he doesn't just tell us what's going on. I still remember how he marched about a dozen of us all the way to the facility and locked us in before explaining that we were going to get the sewers working again."

"He didn't..." Riku chuckled and waited for Leon to close the door behind them.

"He did," Leon said. "Never let Cid lock you anywhere."

Still smiling, Riku looked up at the sky. The day was mild and sunny - just the sort of day Cid would use to spring some ultimate trap.

"When it's over, we can round up Rikku and race on the lightcycles," Leon said after they'd walked a couple of blocks. He waited a moment before looking over at Riku, who seemed to be seriously mulling it over.

"Versus or Co-op?" he asked finally.

"Depends," Leon replied. "If we play co-op, I think the loser has to, ah, wash dishes for a week."

"But I wash the dishes anyway," Riku noted. "How about Yuffie has to climb in your window and giggle loudly while you're trying to sleep."

Leon missed a step. Apparently Riku was not as heavy a sleeper as any of them had thought. Quickly, he tried to remember if he'd said or done anything remotely embarrassing while being mostly sure that Riku was asleep. But nothing came to mind.

"Yuffie grew up with me," Leon reminded him after he caught back up. "She was seven when we lost this town and as much as I loathe to admit it, when Aerith was busy with other things, I had to get her dressed, undressed, and bathed. I'm sure somewhere in there she got the accidental full tour."

"Too much info," Riku replied just before reaching over to squeeze Leon's hand for one quick second.

"You brought it up," Leon stated as he reached up and stretched. He wasn't willing to comment on the sudden contact - not right away.

"And I regret doing so," Riku said coming to a dead stop.

Leon walked a couple of steps onward before pausing and looking back.

"What?" he asked as he turned. Just when he thought Riku was going to keep smiling, everything had inexplicably changed.

Riku sighed and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, ignoring the layer of bandages still wrapping the one. "I think I have one regret."

Right. That again. Leon had once heard a phrase describing something similar - a behemoth in the corner. Not literally, of course, but a situation of some sort that was always there, lingering, but couldn't be discussed either out of kindness or awkwardness or some other reason. He was fairly sure it was meant to refer to the feeling when speaking to the relatives of the recently deceased and not being sure just what to say.

Ignoring the behemoth did not make it go away, and it most certainly had taken up residence with the pair of them. Yuffie seemed mostly oblivious to it, but she had her own agenda anyway.

One day, Leon needed to ask if she was planning on opening a bookstore in his basement.

Unsure just what he was supposed to say to Riku, however, Leon just reached a hand out.

"Do you want to tell me?" he asked. Hopefully Riku was going to do something, otherwise Leon was starting to feel somewhat ridiculous.

"I won't get to see Aunt Freya again," Riku said softly. "Unless later parts of the curse send me back to spend the end surrounded by all the problems I left behind."

Leon pulled his hand back. Obviously Riku had been holding more than a few things in during the last couple of weeks. But they hadn't really spoken at all. And what had happened at the castle wasn't necessarily 'speaking', per se, either. It was enough communication to get out of that place with sanity still intact.

"There might still be a way to get you un-cursed," Leon said. "And... Maybe next time Merlin is in town, he can help."

"I don't know." Riku started walking again. He looked upward, to the sky, and tried to smile. "Maybe I shouldn't think about it. Do you think about it?"

"Only when you mention it," Leon said, which obviously wasn't the truth. But this time around he was not enlisting aid from the faeries unless it was under Riku's command.

"Yeah..."

They were both silent until they arrived at Cid's, which seemed a bit on the quiet side.

Leon opened the door and went in first, a little curious about just what was going on. Whatever secret project Cid had in mind, it was apparently a secret project with just two participants.

"Cid?" Riku called. The place was almost dark and Leon instantly frowned. And then he saw it - there was an envelope in the middle of the floor, white, with Cid's messy, blocky writing on it.

"He got us," Leon commented as he picked up the envelope. "He isn't here. Whatever our 'job' is, we aren't going to like it."

"Do we have to do it?" Riku asked as he edged over. His mood seemed a little better, but Leon wasn't quite sure if there was any point discussing anything for the time being that didn't involve the current situation.

"Yeah," Leon said as he opened the envelope. "Someone is probably paying for this one. And I don't mean us."

He scanned the letter inside twice before handing it to Riku.

"No way," Riku said, handing it back to Leon. "He can't expect us to..."

"We're going," Leon said. "If we go home and pack now, we can be there by dinner."

"But..."

"Lyndal isn't much of an adventure. We'll go, do a bit of work, and be back in less than a week," Leon said. "And honestly, you won't realize that you've been shrunk."

"It would help if Cid had said what we need to do there," Riku stated. "I can't help feeling that..."

"Yes, we've been trapped. Get used to it," Leon said flatly as he headed for the door. If nothing else, he hoped to fit in a few sparring matches with Zack or Paine or even their elusive mentor. Lyndal was a nice place to visit - just not anywhere he wanted to stay.

"Can't they fix their own roofs and dig their own ditches?" Riku asked. "Magic and all."

"Magic only goes so far," Leon replied. "And it has been raining more than usual. Raindrops are ten times bigger to them. Humans - even humans at their size - have better endurance too."

Riku didn't protest again as they left Cid's. Instead he was silent. Apparently the thought of someone else having a problem was distracting from his own angst. Leon almost liked it that way, but saying so would likely involve the need for a few of Aerith's Cura spells.

Packing was uncomplicated - Leon had one bag that he threw a bit of clothing in before adding his gunblade to the top of the pile. Anything he didn't have, and likely everything he did have, the faeries would provide. They were notoriously nice to guests, especially the helpful sort.

The only question that remained in Leon's mind was about where they'd be staying. His best guess would be with the village leader Edea, one of few Leon knew of whose power rivaled that of Maleficent, Jenova or Lucrecia. Staying elsewhere would be complicated and besides, during his last stay Edea had welcomed him with the patience of a mother. She had been the one to turn him back once she'd deemed that he'd learned enough, too, about the village and culture to go back to Radiant Garden and help set up trade routes and... Leon frowned. He'd been set up then, too.

Obviously he'd fallen into a pattern.

Grabbing his things, Leon deposited them in the main room before jotting a quick note to Yuffie. She'd probably not even notice she was suddenly alone for the first few days and Leon was just a little sure where she could have gone so quickly. He had called down to the basement upon arriving home but hadn't gotten a response.

"I'm ready," Riku said just as Leon finished the note. He put it on her usual chair and turned to look at Riku. He looked a little nervous.

"I've stayed in Lyndal before," Leon said. "It's a nice place."

"You said that," Riku said. "Why were you there?"

"Not long after Radiant Garden became Radiant Garden again, Cid received a request from Lyndal's leader, Edea, for aid. The world had changed, in her opinion, and she wanted there to be more trade between the cities. When I was younger, it was rare to see a faerie in town," Leon explained. "Now it's common. That's just happened in the last few years."

"That must be why they like you so much," Riku said after a moment. "So you're a good choice to go. But I'm..."

"Not contagious," Leon interrupted. "We still have to walk out there and find whoever’s going to shrink us."

"Lunch on the way?"

Leon nodded.

The light was fading from the sky when they finally came upon a lone woman standing near a grove of trees. Leon smiled, recognizing her instantly.

"Leon!" she called, reaching out to him and gliding over to him to wrap her arms around him. "You came to visit."

"Cid sent us," Riku said. Leon knew he was all the more curious now, but they'd have time to talk. And Riku hadn't seemed very vocal on the trip other than to comment that perhaps Aerith would have a cake waiting when they got back.

"Edea, this is Riku," Leon said as he stepped back to gesture in Riku's direction. "Riku Crescent."

Leon was not expecting the blush that welled up on Riku's cheeks - and he also was not expecting the refined lady-fae to bow down in front of Riku for the briefest of seconds.

"Yes, Paine has spoken of you," Edea said as she reached up to touch Riku's hair, trailing her slender fingers through it before letting it fall. "Though she did not mention your lineage."

"I... was found by my Aunt Freya," Riku said quickly. "She's a Burmecian. I'm... nothing."

"The name is given to those who are worthy of it," Edea explained as she reached down to take both of Riku's hands in her own. "Perhaps you'll be willing to talk to me while you're in Lyndal."

"Sure," Riku said. "But I don't know how helpful I can be."

"Words," Edea said, "are always better than silence."

Leon was not entirely sure he liked that she'd looked at him as she'd said that. But she had a few thousand years on him, too. Edea probably knew what she was talking about.

"We can continue talking on the way to town," she continued. "I'm sorry I can't give you wings. But Rikku and Zell have made something of interest that will help."

Genuinely curious, Leon glanced around, though he was fairly sure whatever the creation was, it was likely in the trees.

"Now hold still," Edea commanded as she stepped away from Riku and closed her eyes. Leon closed his eyes, too. Somehow it just seemed safer.

Shrinking, Leon decided, was a bit like being pulled into and out of the computer underneath the castle. But with a very distinct sound that was very much still a cross between 'poof' and 'bamf'. Belatedly, he thought that Riku might actually have a problem with it, even though he was very much still himself. Just smaller.

Leon opened his eyes when he heard the echoing sound from Edea. She hovered just above the ground in front of him, transparent-blue wings sparkling in the reddish-purple sunset.

"Riku?" Leon called as he looked around.

"Right here," Riku replied from just behind him. A second later Riku's hand came to rest on his shoulder and Leon instinctively reached up. "I'm okay."

"Well, come see what Zell and Rikku made," Edea said with a smile. She didn't fly - she continued to glide as if on strings. Leon knew Riku was watching her closely - she was the perfect picture of grace and power. Though perhaps Maleficent had been, too.

Upon arriving at the mysterious gift, Leon couldn't help but laugh. He knew it was as much Rikku's doing as Zell's, and he could easily imagine them both putting a happy amount of hard work and tender care into it.

"I'm driving," Leon said quickly as he ran a few steps to the miniature motorcycle.

Edea just laughed and moved onward, leading the way.

Lyndal was still wide awake despite the sun being low on the horizon, one of the many features Leon had come to appreciate about the town. He saw both Rikku and Zell waiting near the entrance, likely hopeful to see their contraption at work.

Leon was actually quite impressed - he wasn't sure what the tiny machine used for fuel, but it handled almost exactly like a real motorcycle would, if based mostly on a computer simulation, which was probably all that Rikku had to work with. Riku hadn't said much, but that was understandable. Leon wouldn't have heard any of it anyway as they zoomed along, still not able to match Edea's clip.

He came to a stop just before the first set of buildings and reached up almost instinctually to fix his hair. Riku's arms relaxed from around his stomach, and the bike shifted slightly as he hopped off. Leon wasn't quite sure where to keep the thing, and left the engine on just for that reason. He looked at Zell, who thankfully gestured to a haphazard lean-to. It wasn't quite a garage, but it would do. And perhaps during the time they were in the town, a little work could be done on that, too.

"How is it?" Rikku asked, flitting over. "I had Tron print out some stuff but Zell did most of the work!"

"Wonderful," Leon said. "Don't let Sephiroth's brothers see it."

"I bet I could get a king's treasure for a few more," Zell commented as he bounced over beside Leon. "Didn't take that long, really."

"About the amount of time it took to get Cid to send you back to us," Edea said. "But I can give you a tour of what assistance we desire in the morning. Please, enjoy the evening. There's a spare room in my home for you to rest in later."

Riku just nodded as she headed off. He hadn't quite made his way over to the entrance to the lean-to, where Leon was standing, but Leon hadn't let his attention slip. After all, Riku had to feel out of place. Not only did he not have experience with the town, he didn't have friends in it, either. And Leon knew that Zell and Rikku would just be the beginning of the fae wishing to visit with him.

"Riku," Leon said quickly, gesturing at Zell, "this is Zell. He's good with mechanical things. If he'd leave the village, I'm sure Cid would hire him in an instant."

Zell laughed. "Well, maybe I will now. But the trip to Radiant was way to boring to just fly and I can't teleport that far, y'know?"

"That's because you can only teleport to where you've been."

Paine's voice was instantly familiar, though Leon wasn't entirely sure she was the best person to quite literally step into the span between himself and Riku.

"Wouldn't want to teleport into a tree!" Rikku said with an almost nervous laugh.

"And you know Paine and Rikku, I believe," Leon added. "This is Riku Cr--"

"Just Riku," Riku said sharply. "Maybe we should go put our bags at Edea's..."

Without giving Leon time to reply, Riku started off in the direction Edea had vanished even though he obviously didn't have any idea which home was hers.

Leon just glanced around at his other companions and frowned. He wanted to offer some apology, but nothing came to mind. Nodding, Rikku shooed him along and in a few steps he caught up to Riku, who was about to turn a corner.

"Riku?" Leon asked as Riku slumped against the stone wall and sank down to a crouching position.

"I don't know," Riku replied. "I really don't know. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Of course it is," Leon said as he knelt down. "Cid made us do it."

Riku opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead he started laughing.

"Once we start working on things, you'll forget this isn't Radiant Garden. Pretend Zell is Cloud, Yuna is Aerith, and Rikku is Yuffie..."

"I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?" Riku interrupted. "I have too much on my mind. I just feel... stuck right now."

Leon didn't say anything. He understood. He remembered being that age and being in Traverse Town after having lost so much and not being at all sure where hope could even be. Everything seemed pointless and the days seemed to be passing in shadowy abandon.

"It might be the pants," Leon finally commented. His shirt felt a little tight. He was fairly sure the process of making humans faerie-sized had yet to be perfected.

"It's not..." Riku scrambled to his feet but not before giving Leon a playful punch to the shoulder. "That's not even funny."

"Let's go drop off our things," Leon said as he stood. "Edea will give us the professional tour in the morning, but we can still walk around tonight."

"Okay, but I'll follow you," Riku said, blushing. "I have no idea where I'm going."

That was a start, Leon decided. Admitting the problem did seem to be the first step towards resolution.

Of course, Riku was really just talking about navigating to Edea's house.

He decided to be thankful for the small things.


	7. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edea helps settle Riku into Lyndal, and there is much curiosity about situation. Sharing quarters also leads to some much-needed reconciliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Long. Time. Coming. For kingdom_xiii on LJ. Claim - Riku/Leon, Theme Set - Light, Theme - Hope

"Edea's house is right over there," Leon said a moment later. He gestured to an almost too-grand building as they stepped into what was obviously a central area of the town. "It's roomy, so..."

Riku frowned as he glanced in each direction once. "I don't think this is right at all."

"Do you sense something?" Leon asked as he glanced around.

"No," Riku said quickly. "Nothing like that. I mean... Well, this just looks like a normal town built around some really big trees in the woods. I thought..."

"Wrong kind of faeries," Leon said. "This is a settlement of mostly light faeries, a few dark faeries, some earth faeries and maybe a few metal faeries. You're thinking of wood faeries and there are a couple of those, too. They live up there." He pointed up into the foliage above.

"Leon," Riku said with a chuckle. "I think I'm officially in over my head."

"That's one of perils of working for Cid," Leon said as he started across the open, central area to where Edea's house was. "But he's done worse."

"How worse?" Riku asked as he double-stepped to catch up.

"On the far side of Radiant Garden, on the other side of the far wall where Cid decided to put the last generator," Leon began, already trying not to chuckle, "there were these bushes..."

"Bushes," Riku echoed.

"Poisonous bushes," Leon continued. "About an acre of them and they were truly... unique in their ability to infect anyone within a decent distance of them. We had to rip them all out while dealing with the ridiculous effects of the poison."

"I'm guessing it wasn't standard itchy poison," Riku commented.

Leon chuckled again. "The spores made everyone's voices high-pitched and the leaves turned our skin purple."

Riku stopped dead and burst out laughing. "Okay," he said as he shifted his weight. "You got me - being shrunk and sent to faerie-land has nothing on that."

"That was a very weird two weeks," Leon admitted as they stepped under the entranceway of Edea's house. "I got very good at stealing the film from Yuffie's camera."

Opening the door, Leon gestured for Riku to go on in first.

"Do we just walk in?" Riku asked as he stepped in and glanced around.

"Yeah," Leon replied as he entered as well and closed the door behind himself. "You know how Yuffie always just kinda walks into a place and does whatever?"

Riku nodded.

"She'd fit right in here," Leon explained. "Try not to be too self-conscious about it. The light faeries, especially, don't quite understand the term 'privacy'."

"A whole village of Yuffie?" Riku asked with a joking frown. "I dunno..."

"Well, we can put our bags in a room and wander around," Leon said as he moved past Riku and towards the stairs. "I remember the first time I was here - the first thing I asked was 'if you can fly, why do you have stairs?'

Riku's face was blank. "Okay," he said after a moment of following behind Leon. "Why do they have stairs?"

"It's like the rules of magic," Leon explained as they began ascending. "Fae can't fly until they're a certain age. Otherwise, what would stop someone's baby from flying off and getting eaten by a bird or something. So until then, they need stairs."

Leon winced - that had been a terrible example but certainly enough to illustrate his point. Riku made a slight grunt of understanding from behind him and Leon kept walking. Edea's house was probably the largest in the village though likely not the nicest. Still, everything about it was immaculate.

"This is all wood, right?" Riku asked as he ran his hand along the wall. "So... why not live in trees?"

"Most of the buildings are made from stone or trees that have already died," Leon explained, making a mental note to sit Riku and Zell down together - the hyper blond faerie would be much better at answering the myriad of questions without sounding half as ridiculous as Leon thought he did. "And besides, light faeries don't live in trees."

"Tree faeries do."

If he hadn't made all the same mistakes his first time in Lyndal, Leon would be ready to knock Riku upside the head. But he had- and therefore he really couldn't say anything.

"Wood faeries," Leon corrected. "They're apparently indigenous to the area - the light faeries and all the others kinda moved in on them. As a result, quite a few of the wood fae went to live closer to the Viera village."

Riku shook his head. "No quiz on this later, right?"

Leon smirked and reached for the first door in the upstairs hall. The room beyond was unoccupied by anything other than furniture. Two straw beds were covered in thick quilts and a small set of shelves half-covered in books greeted Leon as he stepped inside.

"You mind sharing?" he asked as he glanced back at Riku.

"No," Riku said as he stepped in and dumped his bag off his shoulder. "Might be better. I feel like I'm about to commit some social faux pas now. And I've been to a lot of worlds with a lot of weird customs and everything, but this..."

"You weren't necessarily being careful back then, were you?" Leon asked as he walked over to the farthest bed and dumped his own bag on it.

"No," Riku admitted. "Not at all. I had a mission then..."

"You have one now," Leon reminded him. "It's just much less exciting. However, you're now the right size to read many very interesting books on faerie magic that Edea has elsewhere in the house. We might find something for you."

"Leon..." Riku paused and glanced down at the floor. "I just keep thinking that..."

"Don't," Leon interrupted as he stepped over to Riku and reached to rest a hand on Riku's shoulder. "What's done is done and the only thing we can do is try to find a cure or anti-curse or... whatever."

Riku nodded and let his gaze wander to Leon's. They stared at one another for a moment before Riku smiled.

"I'm being silly, aren't I?" he asked. "I should try to stay positive."

Before Leon could respond with whatever inspirational drivel he was going to try to absolutely wing as he spoke, Riku pulled their bodies together and kissed him. Leon wasn't exactly sure how to respond, kissing back tentatively at first and then letting his hands wander down to Riku's sides and begin reaching for Riku's shirt hem as Riku deepened the kiss. Need - lust - fear - anger... Leon couldn't pinpoint whatever emotion Riku was operating on. And for a few seconds he didn't really care, but...

Somewhere, as he was debating between exactly how wrong it would be to just go along with whatever Riku wanted no matter why Riku wanted it, a soft giggle invaded their space.

"Don't mind me," Edea said with a smile as stepped into the room. "I just wanted to make sure you had arrived."

Leon and Riku untangled themselves almost immediately, each stepping back a couple of paces and standing stiffly, staring at opposing walls as Edea as looked at them both.

"Yet you're going to mind me, aren't you?" Edea asked. "That's fine as well. The evening meal will be just after sunset. Feel free to eat here or anywhere else that'll have you."

"Thank you," Leon said quickly. "That should be enough time to show Riku around the town."

"And if you would like to get an early start on your tasks, the stone fence at the far side of the village needs work," Edea said firmly before smiling, turning and gliding out of the room.

"That was a hint, wasn't it?" Riku asked with a soft chuckle. "She's not exactly subtle."

"Depends on what you think she said," Leon replied. He wanted to smile. Edea had only spoken a handful of sentences but each one had been rife with meaning. "We should take a walk."

"I guess," Riku said. He glanced around the room again. "This isn't going to be too awkward, is it?"

"Only if you're intent on making as many silly, human mistakes as you can," Leon answered, dodging Riku's real question as best as he could. Honestly, he didn't have an answer. Things were going to be what they were. Leon stepped into the hallway and headed for the stairs. Part of him wanted to leave Riku on his own to see how many silly, human mistakes he would make - because Riku would, after all. Everyone did.

"That's not..." Riku trailed off as he followed Leon into the hallway. "Well... wait up, okay?"

"We're going to take a look at that wall, too," Leon added. "Might be an easy fix."

"You really care about everyone here, don't you?" Riku asked as they headed out the front door.

"The faerie-folk have been quite helpful over the years and have become good friends," Leon answered. "So yes, I suppose I do care about the residents here..."

Riku smiled. "I suppose I can worry about them, then. I need to be a little less selfish..."

"I don't know about that," Leon interrupted, guiding them both off to the left. "You have a lot to worry about."

"But none of it right now," Riku replied. "Not today, not tomorrow."

Leon chuckled. Every time he thought he'd started to figure Riku out, the young man threw him another curve ball. But he remembered what he was like at that age and couldn't say anything. At nineteen, he was in Traverse Town, trying to figure out who he was in the face of losing most everything and needing to protect what little he did have left.

Riku was really doing a good job with what he was going through. And Leon knew he should probably say that - when the time was right.

But the time was not right. Instead he pointed out the general store and motioned that perhaps they should step inside.

More than an hour later, when the sun had dropped beneath the trees and lanterns and firepots had been lit around the town, Leon and Riku headed back towards Edea's house. They had gotten the stone fence back together without any trouble, and Leon thought it was more than enough progress for the first evening.

"So what do faeries eat?" Riku asked as Edea's house came into sight.

"Same stuff we do," Leon replied. "Quite a bit less meat, but otherwise..."

"Oh..."

"Especially now," Leon continued. "With friendly relations with Radiant Garden and other towns, they're incorporating more of our food into their diets."

Riku nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "Yet again, not sure what I was expecting... but it makes sense."

"Don't worry about asking silly questions, either," Leon reminded him. "Nothing could be worse than some of the things I asked about my first time here. And you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll adapt to life here."

"Personal experience again?" Riku questioned.

Leon nodded as he opened the door for Riku. Neither of them was expecting the group that had gathered in the dining area, apparently waiting for their return. They both paused, glancing at one another before looking back at the group.

Aside from Edea, Zack, Paine, Zell and Rikku, another half-dozen fae were waiting with barely-restrained curiosity.

"Welcome back," Edea said as she gestured to the fully spread table. "It seems that everyone wants to spend time with you."

"Just don't overwhelm us with job requests," Leon said. Faeries could certainly be pushy and he was afraid that everyone had an agenda all their own. "We can only do one thing at a time."

"Leon!" Edea exclaimed with a laugh. "They all know that you belong to me." She smiled and Leon couldn't help but laugh as well. Edea had done her best to be a mother figure to him. Though to Riku...

"C'mon, let's eat," Zack said. "There'll be plenty of time for talking."

"With your mouth full," Paine added flatly.

"Sit up with me," Edea said as she pointed to the head of the table.

"Of course, Matron," Leon replied. He stepped to one side and waved Riku to the other side of the table. Hopefully Riku would be okay out of whisper-range. There wasn't any visible emotion on Riku's face. They were both just going to have to wing it.

"Reasonable behavior, please," Edea said to the rest of the group. "Keep your silly questions to yourselves."

"But I wanted to know why he has a curse on him," a young, purple-haired girl said as she pointed at Riku. "I bet it's a really interesting story."

"Hush, Eiko," one of her companions, a brown-haired woman, said quickly before apologizing. "I'm so sorry."

Leon had known her instantly - her name was Rinoa and she's decided to attach herself to him the first time he'd visited. It had been interesting, but troublesome. Still, he considered her in the category of 'friend'. She reminded him very much of a young woman he'd been quite close to in Traverse Town many years before.

"It's... okay," Riku said slowly as he sat. "I... I knew it would come up."

Edea sighed. "Let us fill our stomachs before we fill our minds," she said.

"Sounds good to me," Zell commented. "We might as well get the easy stuff out of the way."

Eiko simply frowned, looking annoyed that her query had been dismissed so quickly, even if it was just temporary. But once Edea gestured that they could all start passing dishes, her expression changed and like Zell, she became far more interested in eating than anything else.

Though from time to time, her gaze did flick over to Riku with an obvious curiosity.

Mostly, Edea steered the conversation as subtly as she could, something Leon was well aware of and appreciated but obviously couldn't comment on until later. She spoke of the Spring and of some of the other faerie villages nearby that would perhaps eventually seek to become allies with Radiant Garden.

Later, when stomachs were filled and dishes were cleared, Edea herself was the one to broach Riku's condition.

"Now, young man, before the curious young minds around us explode from curiosity, please tell the tale of how you got to be so thoroughly cursed." Her tone was even and her expression told even less. Leon couldn't get a read on her and turned his attention instead to Riku.

"I don't know where to begin," Riku admitted. He looked to Leon, obviously lost, and their eyes met for a long second. They had words to speak later.

"The very beginning," Leon suggested. "With your aunt..."

Riku nodded. And then he took a deep breath. Eiko was practically standing on her seat in anticipation, small wings out for balance.

"I was found as an infant," Riku started, "by my Aunt Freya Crescent, a Burmecian..."

* * *

"I don't know if I should feel lighter or better or what," Riku said as he flopped back onto one of the straw beds.

"Mmm?" Leon hadn’t meant to miss part of that statement, but between the crackle of the straw under Riku's weight and the zipper of his duffel jamming up and acting as a perfect distraction, he wasn't quite putting all the words in Riku's sentence together in the proper order.

Instead of repeating, though, Riku seemed to assume that Leon wanted an expansion of his statement, which was fine. It was enough for Leon to fill in the blanks as he gave up on his bag.

"You know... telling them all of that should make me feel better, right? I think I do, but there's just..."

"You don't have to feel twenty pounds lighter just yet," Leon said quickly. "You just have to relax a little while you're here."

"Easier said than done when this is an all-work, no-play 'vacation'," Riku reminded him, rolling onto his side and watching Leon for a long moment. "Though fixing that wall took what, a half-hour? And it's finished and shouldn't need more work..."

"Would have taken someone like Zell five hours, and he's smart and capable," Leon replied. He circled around his bed and sat, surprised that it didn't feel at all like straw beneath him even though he knew that's what it was.

"But... I suppose I can't fly or teleport or any of that stuff," Riku said with the faintest of hand-motions. "Anyway, it's nice to just be somewhere that isn't really anywhere familiar, where I get to do things that I really know are good."

He paused for a moment.

"Because I can trust..."

The word caught them both off guard, and instead of continuing, Riku simply reached.

There was enough space on Riku's straw bed for two, definitely. Leon didn't say a word - he simply went.

"Because I can trust the people I'm with," Riku repeated softly, before Leon kissed him. They hadn't really hesitated to be physical while wandering around town and fixing the stone wall, but that was just lingering touches. Enough to help heal.

The bed crackled under them as they moved, Leon pinning Riku on his back before kissing him again. He touched and tasted, a little surprised with himself because he'd insisted that all of this would be at Riku's own pace.

"Leon?"

He froze, afraid he'd pushed too far.

"Should have done this sooner."

Nevermind.

"Didn't want to push things," Leon said as he pushed up the bottom of Riku's shirt to slide his palm along the warm plain of Riku's stomach.

"Didn't want to make more of a mess," Riku replied as he tangled his fingers in Leon's hair. "Do we have any idea what we're even doing together?"

"Heavy labor, two weeks," Leon replied with a chuckle. He wasn't exactly opposed to having a deep, soul-searching conversation about exactly where their relationship was heading, because it definitely was still heading somewhere, but this just wasn't quite when he planned to have it. Not with a partial-erection pressing against his pants and Riku beneath him in the same state.

"Good enough for now," Riku replied. It was his turn to take over a kiss and do his best to get some of Leon's clothing off, though after another minute it just turned into a mad scramble to get naked and get back onto the bed.

"This is comfortable, for straw," Riku noted as he pulled Leon to him. "If it wasn't so noisy..."

"You won't even notice it after the first day," Leon said. That, he knew from experience.

"Won't be noticing it in the near future," Riku corrected before pausing. "Though..."

Leon immediately thought of his duffel, with the jammed zipper, because of course he had packed lubricant just in case and now it was on the other side of the room and nothing would kill the mood more than fighting with a stuck zipper for five minutes. Though that was thankfully an assumption and not from personal experience.

"Check the night-table," Leon said, both hopeful and not that Edea had taken the care to inform someone in the house that certain accommodations might be necessary.

"Nn?" But Riku reached anyway, finding a half-hidden drawer and tugging it open. "There's..."

"Thought there might be."

"Would be rude not to..." Riku's aqua-green eyes sparkled in the lamp-light and he reached to grab the bottle of oil left for them.

"Would be," Leon concurred, letting Riku guide him onto his stomach and settling. Now it was time to let Riku go at his own speed. His erection was pressed between the thick quilt on the bed and his stomach, but he could wait. He knew it would be good, soon.

Riku settled between his legs a moment later, pushing them farther apart, but not by much. Riku's hands were warm on his skin, though Leon didn't think the room was particularly cold. No, Riku was just hot, which helped negate the coolness of the oil when Riku brushed wet fingers against the small of Leon's back, teasing.

Leon couldn't help a small moan. He didn't think he was desperate, not quite yet, but he'd get there quick if Riku didn't do something.

Riku didn't make him wait. Slick fingers trailed lower, down between his buttocks and pausing at his ring of tight muscle. Leon could feel more oil being splashed about, unconcerned as Riku's fingers pressed inside of him. He gasped, but Riku didn't pause. The motion and pressure was going straight to his cock, though, and he squirmed a bit to try to relieve some of it. "Nn... Riku..."

"Don't want to hurt you," Riku said softly as he pulled his fingers back. "Just..."

"Mmm?"

"Want..." Riku managed, as Leon felt the tip of Riku's erection pressing against him. That said more than words, and Leon moaned as he was penetrated. Riku thrust fully, pausing only a moment.

Unsure if it was an after-effect of Edea's magic or if it was just because it had been so long, but Leon was hyperaware of every move Riku made, every touch of Riku's fingers and also the delicious friction of his cock against the bed, slicked as Riku jammed a hand under to try to help him out.

Riku was not gentle with his movements, which Leon found himself quite enjoying. He was glad they were on a flat, sturdy surface, at least. He grabbed at the top edge of the bed, needing to do something like holding on as Riku's thrusts grew even harder and faster. Leon was pretty sure they came together, but his own orgasm trumped his senses and all he could focus on was his own pleasure.

Lingering only a moment, Riku flopped to the side. As he eased himself onto his side, Leon was surprised with how wet he was. Sweat, oil, come...

Riku was watching him, silent, through wide eyes that seemed almost surprised at what had just happened.

"Riku?"

Riku shook his head quickly. "I'm okay... just... wow." And then he looked away. "I... didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No," Leon replied, reaching. "Gonna need to wash up, though."

"Not yet," Riku replied, looking back and smiling.

Leon thought about reminding Riku that they'd have to be up and to work early the next morning. But the words were lost when Riku kissed him and started exploring his body anew.

Maybe Edea would let them sleep in...


End file.
